From Books Worth Reading

From “Messy Spirituality” by Michael Yaconelli (pages 12-13)

“What landed Jesus on the cross was the preposterous idea that common, ordinary, broken, screwed-up people could be godly! What drove Jesus’ enemies crazy were His criticisms of the “perfect”religious people and His acceptance of the imperfect nonreligious people. The shocking implication of Jesus’ ministry is that anyone can be spiritual.

Scandoulous? Maybe.

Maybe truthis scandalous. Maybe the scandal is that all of us are in some condition of not-togetherness, even those of us who are trying to be godly. Maybe we’re all a mess, not only sinfully messy but inconsistent messy, up-and-down messy, in-and-out messy, now-I-believe-now-I-don’t messy, I-understand-uh-now-I-don’t-understand messy.

I admit, messy spirituality sounds… well… unspiritual.

Surely there are guidelines to follow, principles to live by, maps to show us where to go, and secrets we can uncover to find a spirituality that is clean and tidy. 

I'm afraid not.

Spirituality is not a formula; its not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection.”