The Roof is Coming Down

photo © 2009 Julia | more info (via: Wylio)

We don't own a lot of things of value. Much of what we have is handed down from family or friends and the rest is stuff that we bought on the cheap. Don't get me wrong, we definitely have some nice things (I am blogging from my own computer after all), but we do try not to be too consumer driven.

One thing of value that we own is our house. Even though it's old and cramped and messy, I love it. One of the first things that we did when we moved in was to replace the roof. It probably hadn't had any kind of repairs done on it in thirty years (or more). It was rotted out pretty badly in a number of places. Fixing the roof was a top priority when we moved in.

So when Bill mentioned the story of the paralyzed man being lowered through the roof by his friends, it hit me again about just how annoyed I would be as the home owner. I mean, sure the guy was healed. He had awesome friends. But they totally destroyed this guy's house in bringing their friend to Jesus. Clearly this was a nice guy. He was hosting a party so fantastic that people were spilling onto the street. So maybe he was all, "Woohoo! This is so awesome that people are coming in through the ROOF!" But probably not. More than likely he was thinking that his home was being totally wrecked because of this traveler that he had invited in.

I like to think that I'm the friend lowering a hurt friend in to see Jesus, but I think I'm probably also a lot like the homeowner. Jesus is in my house. We're chillin'. I've got all of my stuff the way I want it, but I'm okay with it being rearranged a little bit because he IS Jesus, after all. But for the most part, I'm still running the show. He's a guest.

And then people come in and just beat the living crap out of what I've set up here. And not stuff that is small and unimportant. No, it's things that I treasure. Beliefs I have that seem valuable. Ideas that keep me safe. Rituals that keep me comfortable. Enclosures that help me keep Jesus to myself or to just share him with people who I know are going to respect my rules for how we engage with him.

But the treasure isn't the beliefs. It isn't the ideas or the rituals. It's Jesus. And if someone needs to mess up my stuff so I can see him do big things, then I guess the roof is coming down.

Have you ever had a something you thought was valuable completely wrecked by your relationship with Jesus? And how annoyed would you be if someone tore a man-sized hole into your roof?


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This is a part of the One Word at a Time blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. You can read more submissions and add your own here.