A tiny dirt road

“And if we want life that isn’t driven by our past hurts, we must squeeze ourselves onto a tiny dirt road and trust that it will lead us somewhere good.”- Matt Bays

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”- Matthew 7:14 (NIV)

In Chapters 2 (“One-sided Prayers- It’s Not Adding Up”) and 3 (“The Chain- Kicking God Out of Your Life”) of Finding God in the Ruins, Matt Bays addresses not feeling the need to protect God’s reputation and eradicating inaccurate perceptions of God from your life.

Matt voices his concern about people who resist an honest doubt or two.  Pastor Bays believes unexpressed doubt can be toxic.  Matt was drawn to finding real answers to life’s most powerful questions.

Even as a young boy, Matt realized that a part of him already loved God, although he couldn’t explain how or even why.  At eight years old, Matt said God “occupied an easy chair inside me.”  But Matt was unable to reconcile experiences at home with this loving God in an easy chair.

Pastor Bays describes his stepdad as on for whom sin would “continue to be a full-contact sport.”  Matt carried many caustic memories with him for almost thirty years.

Alcohol became his “worthless idol.”  He needed a life that wasn’t driven by past hurts, to squeeze himself on a tiny dirt road- being redeemed by finding God in the ruins.  He needed to start from scratch in his relationship with God.

Today’s question: What Scriptures have helped you return to the tiny dirt road?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Worthless idols”

 

A tiny dirt road

Redemption

“And so it seems that the very word redeemed needs its own personal redemption.”- Matt Bays

As Matt Bays concludes Chapter 1 of Finding God in the Ruins, he expresses his belief that redemption has been misunderstood.  Pastor Bays offers his own personal take on how modern Christianity has defined the term:

Redemption (n).  A state of existence in which the faithful to God receive what they expect to receive out of life (and out of God), and what ails them is converted into something fresh and new (getting the desires of one’s heart).

Matt emphasizes that when redemption is defined this way, it becomes hard to approach God, unless it is in the context of getting what we want.  This then leads either to disillusionment with God or a petty and shallow faith experience.  We may feel God owes us- that because we are chosen, He should deliver.

Furthermore, we may equate the word redeemed with the removal of pain.  We envision whatever is broken in our lives getting fixed within a specified time frame.  To correctly understand redemption, Matt differentiates between the unredeemed and the redeemed.

The unredeemed

a.  those whose lives have been neither helped not healed by the usual remedies

b.  have experienced great loss and continue to experience the residual pain of despair

c.  believe their promise of redemption seems far away from the here and now

d.  think their pain isn’t going away soon- if ever

The redeemed

a.  acknowledge the harsh reality of their broken story- to the best of their ability

b.  accept that their pain does not define them

c.  have somehow managed to find God in the ruins

d.  have the capacity to be reasonably happy despite their pain and allow God to use their brokenness for good

Matt concludes:

“But redemption will always be the most powerful when we can trace God’s hand along the way. . . . Looking back to see where God’s hands have pushed the clay of brokenness into something we never thought it could become is truly redemptive.”

Today’s question: Do you currently fit in with the unredeemed or the redeemed?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “A tiny dirt road”

Redemption