For Christmas this year, my friends teamed up and bought me one of the coolest presents I have ever received. It was a sweatshirt that says “Your Brokenness is Welcome Here.” (Check it out at theSoulScripts.com!!) But yeah, take that in for a second. I LOVE that message! It is essentially the Gospel summed up in five heart-thudding words. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but while we were STILL SINNERS Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He welcomed us back into His Kingdom and into relationship with him while we were still living in our brokenness. This is the Good News God offers us. We do not have to fix ourselves before we come to him, but instead we come as we are and through our faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and makes us like Him. Because we love our Heavenly Father, our actions then reflect our faith and we pursue excellence and perfection, as our Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

HOWEVER, American Christians today, including myself, often focus so much on the pursuit of excellence, that we forget how to welcome nonbelievers into the gracious presence of our Father. We separate ourselves so much that we miss the opportunities God is giving us to witness and LOVE those in need. We completely miss the point!! We are set apart not to judge the people around us, but in order the spread the love of Christ. We are no greater than the person next to us. We have all been separated from God by our sin. The ONLY difference is that as Christians, we have accepted a relationship with the perfect Creator and are given the opportunity to step out of our sin and pursue Jesus as He pursues us.

The message, “Your brokenness is welcome here” needs to be presented to more people by more Christians. It is a heavy sentence, but one that people are dying to hear. People are in need of the GOSPEL. They want to know that they are loved. They want to be cared for without any stipulations. And this kind of love is only given by God, the one who IS love (1 John 4:8). However, as Christians, if we are truly being sanctified by the Spirit, then we should start to love people the way God loves us: unconditionally.

When I first got that sweatshirt, I was a little scared. I knew that a message like that would cause people to look and ask questions and build expectations of me. However, I now realize that I cannot truly welcome people in their brokenness without God’s help. The kind of love and acceptance that people look for cannot come from a sinful human heart, which is why that message immediately points to Jesus Christ.

I know I struggle everyday to live out the Gospel; to welcome people where they are at; to be a listening ear without judgment; to get out of my Christian bubble and be a light in the darkness.

However, I also know that as a believer, the coolest thing I can do is walk through life with people, display God’s love, and share the Gospel in obedience as the time arises. By understanding the depth of God’s love for me and how much I truly NEED the Gospel, I can better live out this message to the people around me.

SIDE NOTE: The fact that Christians can often contradict themselves and misrepresent the Gospel shows our DEEP need for salvation, and how we mess up as much as the next person. ALL have sinned (and all do sin) but today I am thankful for a God who saves and for all the wonderful things He is teaching me about His Kingdom and how to live out my faith.

Friends, God LOVES you, and your brokenness is welcome here. 

-Megan