This past weekend I was leading the singing part of our church and I looked out at the congregation and realized what an ugly bunch of people I lead. We have people who have marital problems, drinking problems, learning problems, sexual problems, people who have and/or are very open about their psychiatric problems, and people who are either "semi-homeless" or actually homeless who come to our church. We have the socially awkward, the socially inept, socially abandoned, and the socially weak. We have people who have lost their children to the state, have lost their spouses to disease, lost their lives to infidelity, "almost" had chidren out of wedlock or actually had their child out of wedlock - all come to our church. We have hippies, bankers, annoying people, liars, free loaders, slanderers, and gossips. We also have the poor, the marginal, the middle class, and the poorest by our standards. Now you are probably saying "Welcome to ministry Ron, We have these people in my church also", but the beauty of this weekend is that I realized that I know them by name.
I know all of these people who by the standards we have been given are considered ugly. Then there is me. I am the ugliest because I see these things. But now I've realized that these things that are ugly about them are the most beautiful part. It is the thought of them coming to Roosevelt Community Church to find someone who loves them and knowing that this person is Jesus. Some come to church because they feel that this is what good people do, but others come because jesus has begun healing them of their ugliness.
As I led the congregation in singing, I began thinking that this is what heaven is probably going to look like. Sorry, but I truly believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is not going to be a pretty place. We like to imagine that it will be, but I really believe that it is going to be one giant ugly place. Jesus spoke about this when he told the story about the King who threw a party. None of the pretty people showed up and when he sent his servants to remind the pretties, the servants were either told that the pretty people were too busy or the servant was killed. This is when the King told them to invite any who will come. I believe that the hopeless will make it into the Kingdom before the hopeful - better yet, the ugly will make it before the beautiful simply because the beautiful see the ugliness and decide that that is not for them. We are all drawn toward the attractive - it's true. We like the attractive things about culture - music, fashion, film, literature - but recently I've been gravitating toward the ugly. I've been leaning toward the broken before the fixed. I've seen the attractive and it is very inviting, but the ugly seems to be more real to me.
My church is ugly. As a worship leader, I point them in the direction of the One who sees them and makes them beautiful. I love it.
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4 comments:
I'm so glad you do!
Think about it: what looks good in our society (not beautiful, but good looking) is determined by the wealthy. Advertisers control our world. The right clothes, hairstyles, cars, make-up, etc, make you good-looking in our culture. The ugly people are the marginalized. So when you say that you are worshipping with and ministering to the ugly of our world, you really should be extremely proud of it! That's where you should be!
As a side-note, I guess this means that you aren't going to go for your sexy church anymore, huh?
Well really, ugly is teh new beautiful/sexy. Isn't it funny how ugly the word "ugly" is? When I read it, I instantly think that it is a put down, but in this text, the word is describing the ones who christianity has forgotten or left behind like Kirk Cameron.
GREAT post.
Well done. That was written like a poem. I see a song in the future. Something like. "All the ugly people" by Ron Pie. I think RCC is more like what was intended. What a beautiful thing the "church" when the message of Jesus is taken literal as well as a narrative to our own lives. How beautiful is it to have the multi millionaire sitting next to the homeless guy or the single mom. How wonderful would it be if the “church” really truly lived in community where the weak became strong and the strong became weak? How revolutionary would that be in this polarized world?
Why is it that it’s the weak and the poor that are so willing to join in community, but the wealthy, strong and the beautiful are the ones on the outside and dying on the inside? We tend to choose people that are like us or have the same things in common and look like us etc. I hope and pray that isn't what God intended the church to be. I’m going with it’s not.
Ron you rock and keep on rock'n the ugly people. 40 foot fake-out.....forever!!!!
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