you belong

So as we enter the holidays, remember that your belongingness to God is simply not determined by your family of origin, or economic status, or friend group. It's not determined by religiosity, moral purity, or political category. Your belongingness is determined by the voice of the One who created you, and really, nothing else gets to tell you who you are…

                                                                                                Nadia Bolz-Weber

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What make me great?

Reboot!

What make me acceptable?

OK

What gives me value?

What gives you value?

We have our criteria

Our algorithms

Status

Wealth

Jobs and titles

Influence

Beauty

Our social circle

We wrap these things around us like a cloak

Or perhaps

Better

Like a shell

But it is not enough

It is never enough

We are always striving

Always comparing

Always seeking to earn our acceptance

It’s a trap!

How am I doing, on a scale from 1-10

We even do this with our spirituality!

Think about it, digit theology!  On a scale from 1-10 –

Sin is a 0, confession is 5, generosity is an 8, generosity combined with action?  9

Humbleness is 5 if you think about it, 9 if you don’t’ 

You rate 5 for loving neighbors who are friendly and quiet, and a 10 for loving a neighbor who throws all night parties and has 10 dogs.  Moving away from that person rates a 0 for love and a 10 for smarts

Coming to church is a 6. Staying awake is an 8, staying awake and listening is a 10. 

Staying at home is a 2 if you remember it is Sunday, a 4 if you feel at least a little guilty, and a 0 if you completely forget it is Sunday.

But the fact is we will never really feel like we are “there”

As if we belong

If we approach life this way

We will never be able to have

As one author puts it, soft fronts and hard backs

We will always have hard fronts, and soft backs (Brene Brown)

We will never have hearts that sing

And arms that embrace

We will never be free, to live, to feel, to accept, to love

Which is why the one thing that must count

The only thing that can really count

Is the voice of the One who birthed us

The One in whom we “live and breathe and have our being” (Acts)

The voice of the one who looks past the criteria and the algorithms

The one who ignores the adjectives

And says simply, 

“You are a child of God,

You are loved

And you belong”