Mud or Masterpiece?

"This is just not right!” Tracy thought. “How am I supposed to worship God with that right in front of me?” Tracy sat completely distracted by the woman with short, spiky blue hair occupying the seat in front of her. She quickly processed the information—no makeup, short hair, blue-jean jacket, pierced, and tattooed—and delivered the verdict. Tracy nudged her husband, pointed to the woman, and slid him a note, “She’s gay, let’s move.”

Tracy and her husband came to Gateway at the request of her daughter. Tracy had been in church her whole life, even worked on the staff of a church for decades. She knew right from wrong, and this was wrong! “My husband seemed a little less interested in analyzing her than I did,” Tracy recalls, looking back. “I think I stared back and forth at her during the entire church service. I was angry. Yes, I was! I felt as though she had no right to even be in church, much less sit in front of me. I was there to worship Jesus, and she was a total distraction. I peered inconspicuously at her ‘friends,’ wondering what perverted things they probably did. I was totally disgusted, absolutely disgusted! As I tried to pay attention to the message, my eyes were drawn back to her over and over again—still sizing her up, watching her gestures, analyzing, judging. I felt creepy sitting behind her, in church of all places. I wondered, Why, oh why, couldn’t I have just sat where we normally sit? As the service was concluding I thought, Good! I can leave.”

But as they stood to sing the closing song, something grabbed Tracy’s attention and threw her over backwards. The tough looking woman was wearing a skirt! A very feminine, white-lace skirt. For some reason, it confounded Tracy so much that she couldn’t stop watching, even following this young woman all the way across the courtyard. People she knew to be strong Christians greeted and even hugged this woman. Then it happened! Tracy watched in shock as this woman turned and gave a big hug . . . to her daughter. That night, her daughter came over, and they had a long conversation about “that woman.” Tracy found out the rest of the story about Lisa. Lisa grew up with a mom addicted to hard drugs. Her father left them only to be replaced quickly with a stepdad who sexually abused Lisa before she was old enough to know the word sex. After enduring years of abuse, wanting to protect her younger sister from getting abused, Lisa went to court to testify against her stepdad. She was too young to be believed, and her whole family turned against her. She was forced to move in with her biological father at age twelve, not only having the close friendship of her sister ripped away, but her biological father quickly began to sexually molest her as well.  Lisa turned to drugs in middle school to calm the hurricane of anger and disgust she felt toward men. She didn’t trust men, or her dangerous femininity. The only guy she felt safe to date in high school was very feminine himself. But when he got her pregnant, he too turned into a violent monster. He beat her so badly, she miscarried her baby at age sixteen. Feeling horribly alone by age twenty-two, Lisa tried to reconcile with her mom, who then introduced her to crystal meth. “I couldn’t stop the waterfall of tears,” Tracy remembers, “as my daughter shared the amazing, healing work Jesus had been doing in Lisa’s life since she got baptized one year earlier. I found out Lisa had overcome a drug addiction, worked the twelve steps, and even forgiven her family. She was in a small group, and an older couple now mentored her like loving parents. And the skirt?—well, Lisa felt like Jesus had made it safe enough to start to love her feminine identity again.
“I was brokenhearted as I saw myself more clearly than ever before. I was a Pharisee! I was just like the religious rulers in Jesus’ day who demanded perfection of everyone and looked down on others.  I felt sad, ashamed, and prideful. One year later, I see that day as a divinely orchestrated appointment. Jesus used Lisa to help me see my own sin, and I too am overcoming by his power. I have forgiven myself and am enjoying this new and fresh perspective on life.”

Survey Says…We just conducted a national survey of American Christians based on a study I did comparing the attitudes and actions of Jesus with those of the religious Pharisees. Survey says? 86% of all Christians are more like the Pharisees in either attitude, action, or both. Before you say, “Not me,” let me give you a few of the discoveries I explore in Mud and the Masterpiece. Because I’m convinced there are many shades of gray between being Christ-like and subtly Pharisaical.

What caused so many people who seemed far from God to flock to Jesus? Why did he have such a magnetic pull on people in the world? I observed and analyzed his words, his attitude, what was recorded about his body language, and how people must have experienced him. I realized that people far from God could see something in the eyes of Jesus that conveyed an attitude we must adopt. Somehow Jesus could see the Masterpiece of God’s image shining through the cracks in the mud of sin and stain covering the most broken person. He saw sin for what it was—foreign matter that needed to be removed in order to restore His artwork to its original value. Do we see what Jesus sees—in us and others? Something of such value, it was worth dying for? Do we convey the same to those around us? What you hold in your heart toward a person, the mental framework in which you picture them, is what people react to interpersonally. Understanding this can transform you into a more life-giving person. I looked at the actions of Jesus and what he had his followers do to walk in his footsteps. I looked at his kind words, his hard words, and the timing of all of them. I studied the four Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings in chronological order, and I discovered revealing insights into the timing of Jesus’ words and actions.
When you look around you, do you see many people wanting to know about your God because they see a glimpse of a greater love, more abundant life, and new kind of freedom in you and your friends? Is God restoring what’s lost and damaged in this world through you? If not, we ought to ask ourselves a very provocative question: “Why aren’t we more like the One we follow?” Because that’s exactly what Jesus did, and calls his followers to do as well. Maybe it’s not just what we’re doing wrong, but what we’re failing to do right that hinders a Jesus-like impact.
This led to an important realization that can help all of us if we’re willing: Falling into the trap of the Pharisees is not something anyone ever does intentionally. It happens slowly, gradually, in little incremental ways that rob us year by year of becoming the kind of people Jesus intended—people who actually follow Jesus in attitude and action, bringing life, love, and a truth that sets people free. We all must fight pharisaical creep. For us to become the kinds of people God intended, we have to let God restore us into more of the Masterpiece he intended us to be. We must see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus, so we can cooperate with him in restoring others." John Burke-Mud and the Masterpiece


In 2007, I was given a book at a conference called "No Perfect People Allowed" by John Burke. I read the entire book on the way home from Chicago. When I got home I read it again. Within a few months, we were going through it with our small group. That book changed my life! It helped me to see myself and others as God does and how to reach people who are very far from God.

For the last few weeks I have been reading another book that has had an even greater effect on me. I can't tell you how excited I am because today you can read this book too! Like I have said in previous posts this week, I really believe this book is bringing a message for the church today. A message we desperately need to not just hear, but also to be living out! What I love about this book is it gives us steps to follow and thought provoking questions to answer and ideas on how to live out what we are learning. John has done such an amazing job communicating God's heart for us and others through a candid look at the Life of Jesus in The Gospels. It is a must read for Christians today!

The other great thing is if you buy this book today, February 1st, you can get a free copy of the audio version as well. Buy the book Feb 1st through February 8th and get a lot of great resources for free as well. Buy your copy and head http://www.johnburkeonline.com/mybooks/mudandthemasterpiece/to get your free stuff!

All proceeds from the book go to the "Life giving Life" campaign. Check this out at http://www.lifegivinglife.com/