You Don't Have To Have It All Together

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Mark 2:16-17

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor to get some antibiotics for a cuticle infection I had on my left hand (gross, I know). When I was sitting in the room with the doctor, she asked me if I was allergic to any medication, and I told her no, because at that time, I had never had a negative reaction to any medicine I’d been given.

But six days later, that was no longer the case.

On the last day of taking my antibiotics, I broke out in the worst rash I’d ever had. In the first couple of hours, it was just my face, my chest, and my arms that were covered in tiny little red bumps. But by the time I woke up the next morning, my entire body was swallowed in this rash. I immediately called the doctor to try to get an appointment as soon as possible. Thankfully, she was able to see me a couple of hours later.

In the meantime though, I was freaking out. Here I was, covered in this rash, and I had a couple of really important errands I needed to run because I was supposed to go out of town the next day. So before my appointment with the doctor, I threw on leggings and a sweatshirt (yes, in the 98 degree Georgia summer heat), pulled my hair around my neck and face as much as I could, and tried to avoid eye contact with as many people as possible in hopes that I wouldn’t catch the stares I would inevitably be getting because of the rash.

All morning, as I bopped around town, all I could think was, “I just have to make it to the doctor’s office. The people there won’t stare at me or make me feel uncomfortable. They’ll see me and know that I came to the right place because I need help.”

And then, another thought came to my mind:

I wish more people felt this way about coming to church.

I wish more people didn’t feel the need to look perfectly put together before they walked through the doors on Sunday morning. I wish more people would view the church as a place to come to find healing, rather than a place that only welcomed the healthy. I wish more people would think, “If I could just get to church, the people there will see me and know I came to the right place because I need help.”

It honestly breaks my heart that so many people avoid coming to church because they think they have to clean up their lives before they can worship and learn and serve in the presence of God. We are all sinners. We are all broken. We are all hurting. And we are all desperately in need of healing in one way or another. The minute we think otherwise, we’re putting ourselves in a dangerous, pride-filled position.

The church should be a place that all feel welcome in to find hope and healing. Just like when we go to the doctor when we’re sick (or breaking out in a hideous rash), we want help from someone who can make us better. We want the answers as to why we don’t feel our best. And we want to know that there’s a remedy for our pain and our suffering.

Friend, we have a Heavenly Father who wants to offer us all of those things. He wants to give us hope and healing. He wants to ease our pain and bear our suffering. He wants to be the remedy to all of the spiritual sickness we’re experiencing. And one of the ways He provides that healing and remedies our pain is through His Church.

So if you’re hurting right now, or if you’re struggling with thinking that you’ve got to have it all together before you walk into church, please hear me when I say this: None of us have it all figured out. As my pastor growing up used to say, “I’m just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” We all need the love, the compassion, the grace, the mercy, and the hope that is only found in Jesus. So don’t waste another day thinking you’ve got to clean up before you show up. Come as you are, and ask Him to give you the healing and the hope you’ve been searching for.