Tuesday – A Spirituality of Imperfection

When I was growing up, going to church meant putting on our “Sunday best.” My best included everything from leisure suits to clip-on ties! Sometimes I feel like we put on our Sunday best with our lives as well. We try to look like we have it all together and do our best to hide any brokenness we may be experiencing. An article by Daniel Clendenin has me thinking about this. In talking about failure-tolerant Christians, he tells of his fascination with the desert monastics. These are the people who over fifteen hundred years ago fled the corruption of the city and church to live in monasteries in which they could devote their lives to God. What he finds interesting is the degree to which they admitted their struggles. They were “not ashamed or embarrassed to acknowledge and embrace one's brokenness, wounds, darkness, and inner demons. For them, intense struggle is a necessary component of Christian maturity.” As I think about it, the question is not whether we are able to avoid pain and brokenness—we’re all imperfect. The question is whether we will learn and grow from it. We can only learn from that which we are willing to face.