Who’s In Your Closet?

I find it interesting, in a minor way to consider that unless all of my ancestors were exactly who they were, I wouldn’t be who I am. I don’t know about you but I’ve got some real characters in my past. Drunks and adulterers and crooks and cons. Oh there are a bunch of good people, decent people, people who have made the world a better place. But there are a lot of shady characters in my past. It was the same with Jesus.

Abraham - a man known, among other things, for his chronic lying and cowardliness.

Jacob - a con man of unusual ability

Judah - a user of prostitutes (one of whom turned out to be his daughter-in-law)

David - a murderer and adulterer

Rahab - a prostitute

Manasseh - a lousy parent of titanic proportions

Most of Jesus earthly lineage worshipped idols.

And of course Jesus purposely entered the world in abject poverty in circumstances that made it look like His mother had been sexually involved with someone before she was marriage.

God purposely took the bottom of the social ladder to begin His life on earth.

Why did God pick such flawed people to be part of His plan for the coming Saviour of the world? Because flawed people are all that He has to work with. That is what we’re like. That is who we are. Jesus came to earth, in part, to identify with the human condition.

When people express shame for having to come for counselling, when people are embarrassed for having the problems that they do, I tell them, on the one hand, that they’re no worse than anyone else, including me. On the other hand, I assure my clients that we’re all screw-ups. That’s why Jesus came to earth - to save us from ourselves.

Just as I’ve got some major screw-ups in my closet, somebody is going to have me in their closet. And the cycle continues down through history.

That is why the Gospel of Jesus (acceptance, forgiveness, salvation of any and all who will come to Him) is called The Good News.

You can be part of that plan. You can be forgiven and adopted into the family of God. You can escape eternal banishment from paradise.

What kind of a person would reject that offer?

You'd have to be a fool – wouldn't you?