I find great comfort in this reflection from 6.17.12. In a time of great reflection and soul searching, I am reminded of how messed up I am. I got a lot of brokenness (now in comparison with a bunch of people, I’m pretty together), but isn’t that awesome–God loves me enough to help me carry and heal it, to make me a new creation…
2 Corinthians 5:6-10(11-13)14-17. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.
Everything that Christ means and offers is summed up by Paul in these two words: new creation. I think about them often. They are as radical and stunning as the first chapter of Genesis. When I meet someone I try to remember as I look into their soul that Christ brings redemption, not improvement. C.S. Lewis said that God became human to turn creatures into sons and daughters, not simply to produce better people of the old kind; it is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better, but turning a horse into a winged creature.
It is not as if we just need a little medicine. We are in no better shape than Lazarus was in his tomb. Jesus did not roll away the stone and give him an antibiotic. Lazarus was dead. He got new creation, not improvement. He became a winged creature. Jesus said: “Come forth!” and he walked to Jesus from death to life.
The only way Christ has been able to forge wings in me is when I have abandoned the improvement quest and surrendered in brokenness—when I am able to bring him the ugliness and failure. Then I find mercy and friendship—laughter too.
Pursuing Call 