Life is Messy: Reflections on Daniel Fusco’s ‘Honestly’

Last updated on: April 6, 2016 at 1:26 pm by Bruce Epperly

Life is Messy: Reflections on Daniel Fusco’s ‘Honestly’ 2016-04-06T13:26:45-04:00 Bruce Epperly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This post is part of a conversation on the new book Honestly: Getting Real About Jesus and Our Messy Lives, by Daniel Fusco, at the Patheos Book Club here.

Elizabeth Kubler Ross once said “I’m not ok. You’re not ok. But, it’s ok.” In a similar vein, a Jewish proverb notes that everyone should have a note in each pocket. The first says, “For you the universe was made.” The second, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Life is messy, and we are all messes, so asserts Daniel Fusco in his “kinder, gentler” portrait of conservative evangelical faith. Quite orthodox in theology, this text, like the Crossroads Community Church website, portrays conservative Christianity in ways that almost seem cool and open-spirited. I find the book quite engaging, and definitely approachable. But, I kept looking for the fine print. That is, what about non-believers, persons from other faiths, LGBT persons, and persons who simply can’t believe the message articulated by the “orthodox” vision that underlies the ministry of Crossroads church. There are varieties of Christianity and, on the whole, Fusco presents a positive vision.

I believe that we should present an affirmative faith. Faith lives by its affirmations, not its negations. We know with Luther that “in the midst of life, we are surrounded by death.” But, the affirmation to live by is “in the midst of death, we are surrounded by life.” Yes, life! The loving parent wants us to have life in all its abundance, and the loving parent wants all of us to have this life – Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, atheists, and GLBT folk, just to name a few. God loves me enough to suffer with the pain of the world, so I must be valuable, beloved, and holy.

Yes, life is messy. A minute ago, while I was writing the last paragraph, a congregant called me at home, telling me that Thursday she will have heart surgery. Another family is dealing with the death of a parent. The grief is raw, and the memorial service will be difficult. Still, other congregants struggle to deal with the aging process. Life is often more challenging than we had imagined. As Jesus says to Peter, they’ll take you where you don’t want to go. But it is truly a beautiful mess. Indeed, as Fusco says, Jesus is the beauty in the midst of the mess.

The fact that life is messy doesn’t necessarily mean that we are “messes” (noun) ourselves. The following comment gave me pause: “So life would be less messy if I did not exist.” Fusco redeems that statement somewhat with “if I didn’t exist there would be one less person to follow Jesus through the mess, day in, day out.” I am not quite sure a Loving Parent would say that of her or his children. A Loving Parent loves her or his children because they exist, not in spite of it. A Loving Parent doesn’t require perfection or particular doctrinal or behavioral marks to love her or his child. A Loving Parent may even allow for many specific ways of healthy living, not just one specific way. God tells each child, regardless of their conscious relationship to God, “I am glad you exist. I love you. I have a vision for you if you broaden your own vision and partner with me in a holy adventure.”

We all know we can create messes. But, more importantly, we need to know that we are worthy – yes, worthy – in God’s eyes regardless of the mess we’ve gotten into. The Cross is not primarily about judgment, although it serves to judge the powers and principalities of the earth, the 1% that dominate politics and economics; but while revealing our brokenness, the Cross does something much more important; it reveals God’s love for us. God suffers with us, mourns with us, and walks through the mess with us. Nothing – not the messiness of our lives, our brokenness, or sin – can separate us from a Love Supreme, that accepts us whether or not we belief the right things or reach an ethical bar. The Loving Parent, Jesus’ Abba, blesses and gives abundant life to all. We can’t lose it, but we need to awaken to it, to let go of the need to be right, to have others wrong, to judge or control, or to connect violence and punishment with God’s way, whether on earth or in heaven.

I will close with a passage that has meant a great deal to me through the years. Taken from Paul Tillich’s sermon, “You are Accepted,” this passage captures a God without enemies who pronounces us worthy even when we, like the Prodigal Son, have traveled willfully to the far off country and thrown it all away in self-destructive behaviors.

Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. …Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.” If that happens we experience grace.

After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed. In that moment, grace conquers sin, and reconciliation bridges the gulf of estrangement. And nothing is demanded of this experience, no religious or moral or intellectual presupposition, nothing but acceptance.

Yes, it’s a mess. But you are God’s child, a beloved holy mess.

Book Reviews

Christian Books

Christianity

evangelical christinanity

God

Jesus

Previous Post

March 25, 2016

The Adventurous Lectionary - The Third Sunday of Easter – April 10, 2016

Next Post

April 8, 2016 The Adventurous Lectionary - The Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 17, 2016

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews The Adventurous Lectionary Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz