Cliches on Tuesday

Looks like we have another mini-snowpocalypse. I know this because it is actually snowing and school all over the county has been canceled. Except not for us. School is never canceled for us. Today we will do All The School. And probably all the email that I have backed up. So anyway, since my Tuesday is like my Monday, even though Monday is still totally Monday, I figured, what better than to limp over to twitter for some inspirational #Tuesdaythoughts. Inspiration, surely, isn’t just for Thursday and Wednesday and Friday. It’s for every day. Unfortunately for you, and more critically, for me, there wasn’t any, so I was stuck googling Stephen Furtick. Man, he never disappoints. So here’s the inspiration for today.

When God demands more of you,
it’s because he sees more in you.

Wow. That. Is. Deep.
And also completely untrue.

I mean, let us just quickly review some basic Christian doctrine, since the snow is waiting to be shoveled and it’s going to take me half an hour to put on my coat, and hat, and boots, and gloves, and anger.

What, exactly, is it that God demands? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you’re probably going to the wrong kind of church. God demands that you be, just to quote him, “perfect like my father in heaven is perfect.” But but but, you’re sputtering, Nobody is Perfect. That’s the whole point of Pinterest and Ladders.com. I am doing my best to become perfect, according to my own specifications that I cobbled together just recently by looking at all my friends on social media. And also, my imperfections are cute and authentic and make me who I am. #trying

Too bad that’s not how God defines the word ‘perfect.’ Take a little turn around the Bible and discover that ‘perfect’ means complete moral purity in thought, action, intention, everything, not including any little mistakes or vague wrong ideas you cobbled together in your long walk through the woods.

Anyway, just to get back to Stephen Furtick, if true moral perfection is what God demands, and it is, that’s too bad, because not only can you not see it in you, neither can God. The only way you can probably be perfect is on instagram and that’s only by lying.

There is a reason for God to demand moral perfection of his creatures. It’s a perverse, frustrating, pride confounding reason. That’s why you don’t want to bother with it. The reason he demands it is so that you, trying however hard, will utterly fail and then will finally give up and do the one thing you should have done in the first place. Which is throw yourself on his mercy in a devastated humility of contrite sorrow.

Let’s rewrite it so it makes sense.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Goodness, that’s not as pithy, is it. Um, how ‘bout,

I never knew you;
depart from me,
you workers of lawlessness.

Oh man, that’s even worse. Oh wait! I’ve got the perfect one.

Come to me,
all who labor
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.

If once you throw yourself on the mercy of Jesus, imperfect, tired, worn-out, discouraged, failing, facing down piles of snow to shovel and stir-crazy children who could shovel it but are too whiny, or work that you don’t want to do, or the disconsolate trouble of it being only Tuesday and you still having all the stuff on your desk that you didn’t do last week, or whatever it is, just go to Jesus who is perfect and let him carry you along. It’s like there are two sets of footprints in the sand, and then after a while there’s only one set of footprints, because your spiritual life is Just Like a walk on the beach with your boyfriend Jesus.

So many cliches, so little time. Happy Tuesday.