Church of the Misfit Toys

Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with my dear friend Kathy Escobar about the crucial nature of the church to become embracing of the misfits. And interestingly enough my friend Ryan Taylor blog about this subject. So, check out his blog and help him find some answers. 

It's not about getting the popular people to come so that all the other kids will follow. But rather its about sharing the Gospel through your life with whoever you encounter, loving and embracing them whether they are socially cool or a social misfit. Spiritually we are being transformed daily into the likeness of Christ then we will eventually become welcoming and deeply embracing of all people, the cool kids and the goonies alike. Look at how Christ did it: 

Dinner at Zacchaeus' House (Luke 19:1-10)

The Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42) 

Hanging out in the "Sinner's Den" (Mark 2:13-17) 

Healing a Blind Man (Matt. 20:29-35) 

All my life I felt like I was somewhat a misfit, and often proud of it. Sometimes, however, this misfit-ness caused me to feel a little left out, especially in Jr. High. Sometimes I just wanted to be chosen. Chosen as a friend, chosen as a confidant, chosen to be liked by a boy, chosen as someone valuable and worth your time. So often, as I am sure it was for so many of us, I wasn't chosen (especially in Jr. High). I was left out. I was made fun of. I felt alone. It was hard. My heart and soul longed for healthy, reliable friends who would care for me and I could care for them. 

I had trouble finding them at school - BUT at church...they were there. It was the greatest feeling in the world to walk into the building and have friend looking for me and vice versa. I knew I was valued, I knew I was cool, I knew I was loved and most of all I knew that this was the case because we all knew that we were loved by Christ and that He taught us to love like Him with all we came in contact with. Just like the verse says, "We love because Christ first loved us." (1 John 4:19 - read all of chapter 3 and 4...its so powerful!)

I have this memory of attending Young Life once while I was in high school and discovering it was full of the popular kids. I thought how cool is this, if I get involved with it all then I would possibly found to be cool too. But then I realized how much more I loved my church's youth group and the eclectic array of kids that came there, felt loved, felt special, felt included and would never probably be accepted into some cool crowd. 

It was around this time that I discovered the power of this verse: 

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." John 15:16

I was so impacted by the one line in this verse... "You did not choose me, but I chose you..." I chose you... I chose you... For the first time I realized I was chosen, I was selected as a part of the cool crowd. The God of all the world chose me... In that moment there was so much love and truth and wholeness. Never again was I going to exclude anyone, nor let anyone make me feel excluded because I was chosen, I was valued, I was special, I was important to the King of the Universe and He loved me. Right before this verse Jesus tells His disciples what kind of friend He is: "Greater love has no one than this, that they lay down their lives for their friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:13-14) 

Read the whole section in John 15:1-17 - who are you in this verse? Are you needing to know you are chosen? Are you looking for a friend like this? Who meets you here in this verse? How does God share/speak to you through these verse? Meditate on the deep meaning of this verse for the practical reality of your life today, how you react to others, how you purchase things, how you love others, your self image... think on and call out to God and listen to what He has to tell you through these verses.