Untidy Saints - God Draws Straight Lines With Bent Sticks
There
is a widespread notion in Christian circles that a “good Christian”,
suitable for leadership, has a very tidy and well-organized life. The ideal
church member is frequently pictured as the fulfillment of the Great American
Dream. The family lives in a large house in the suburbs with a well-manicured
lawn, they are good-looking polished professionals, the wife plays the piano
or the violin or both, and the children are well-behaved straight A students
with perfect teeth, good looks and athletic ability. They have a clean copybook
and no discernible faults. They attend church regularly, are emotionally and
maritally stable, have “everything together” and are respectable
in every sense of the word. But this picture is simply NOT the biblical picture
at all! Most of the major heroes of faith in the Bible have “something
wrong with them” - they are untidy saints.
Noah - got drunk on wine, exposed himself and put a terrible curse on one of his grand-children
(Canaan).
Abraham - had sex with his wife's maid and fathered a child out of wedlock and also
twice let other men capture Sarah while standing by and saying she was his "sister".
Isaac - had an out of control son in Esau who married two non-Christian wives.
Jacob - had two wives and dysfunctional children, who sold their brother into slavery
and Levi and Simeon were cruel to animals.
Joseph - practiced divination with a cup, did time in prison, married a non-believer.
Moses - committed murder, had a bad temper, divorced Zipporah and married a black
woman from Ethiopia, was banned from the Promised Land for flying into a rage.
Aaron - helped build the Golden Calf.
Joshua - spent forty years wandering around in the desert, did the deal with the Gibeonites.
Rahab - was a prostitute.
Samson - married a Philistine woman, had numerous affairs, lived a wild life, died
in jail.
Samuel - had wayward children who failed to follow the Lord.
Saul -went raving mad and was cast off by God for failing to obey orders.
David - had fourteen wives, committed adultery and murder.
Solomon - had 300 wives and 700 concubines and became a despotic ruler who introduced
slave labor and eventually also built idol temples in Israel to please his wives.
Elijah - probably single, lived alone with a widow for a while, bizarre lifestyle,
killed 800 prophets of Baal, prone to depression.
Elisha - again probably single, and again lived with a widow and her son.
Jonah - ran away from God's call and complained when God was merciful.
Isaiah - went around for three years naked, with his buttocks uncovered (Isaiah 20).
Jeremiah - single, melancholic, prone to complain against God, spent chunks of time in
prison.
Hosea - married Gomer who was a prostitute and who left him, terrible marriage.
Daniel - probably single, was the head of the astrology guild in Babylon.
Most
of the prophets - lived in terrible poverty and persecution and were often
killed.
John
the Baptist - single, imprisoned, bizarre lifestyle, a “social drop-out”.
Matthew - compromised with the Romans to be a tax-collector.
Mark- Quit and went home on a missions trip with Paul.
Luke - led a highly itinerant life alongside Paul.
John - went silent for about 50 plus years after his brother James was executed.
Had a fiery temper, jailed on Patmos.
Mary - pregnant before marriage.
Jesus - single, died young, crucified as a criminal, lived off other people's support.
Paul - single and probably divorced, lots of jail time, persecuted the church, caused
riots.
Peter - uneducated, denied Christ, up and down emotionally, joined with the Judaizers
at Antioch.
Mary
Magdalene - had seven demons, may have been a prostitute.
Barnabas
- probably single, joined with the Judaizers at Antioch.
Timothy
- suffered from timidity and ill-health and was probably single.
James (son of Zebedee) - imprisoned and beheaded, died single.
James
the brother of Jesus - late to believe in Jesus, legalistic, may have split
off the Jerusalem church from the Gentile Church.
None
of these heroes of faith lived in the nice house on the hill with the manicured
lawn. None, zero, zip. They all had messy, different, non-traditional lives.
But God loved them, and the Holy Spirit used them. Few if any would pass the
requirements for ordination with any major denomination today or be called to
a large church. (This is not meant to be in any way a criticism of those who
are ordained today).
If
you are clever enough and good enough to have things together then perhaps you
should be helping orphans in Africa and getting a bit “messier”.
Tidy is often safe and often selfish. The Pharisees were very good at being
respectable, neat, tidy and wealthy (Matthew 23 and Luke 16) - but Jesus called
then "sons of the Devil". God wants us out there, taking risks, living
by faith, engaging with this world, and that can mess things up a bit!
If
you are a person whose life has been untidy in some way, then take heart, you
are not written off, God may still have some very important work for you to
do. God selects people by grace, by His election, not by social standards of
perfection. Take the following verses from Paul's epistle to the Corinthians
as an indicator of how God “draws straight lines with bent sticks”:
1
Corinthians 1:25-31 MKJV (25) Because
the foolish thing of God is wiser than men, and the weak thing of God is stronger
than men. (26) For you see your calling, brothers, that not many wise men according
to the flesh are called, not many mighty, not many noble. (27) But God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (28) and God
has chosen the base things of the world, and things which are despised, and
things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are; (29) so
that no flesh should glory in His presence. (30) But of Him you are in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption; (31) so that, according as it is written, "He who glories,
let him glory in the Lord."
This article may be freely reproduced for non-profit ministry purposes but may not be sold in any way. For permission to use articles in your ministry, e-mail the editor, John Edmiston at johned@aibi.ph.