What is your initial gut reaction if you found this on a website advertising a new church in your neighborhood….
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Or if this flyer was left at your house or received in the mail?
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In 1964, Rankin and Bass released the stop-puppet animation classic, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Once Rudolph leaves the North Pole with Hermey, (the elf who hates making toys and wants to be a dentist,) they encounter Yukon Cornelius (a prospector who is – in the end – revealed to be searching not for silver or gold but for a peppermint mine). Together, they stumble upon the bizarro world of The Island of Misfit Toys.
The Island of Misfit Toys is the home of toys that are considered defective in some way by the mainstream of culture… Charlie (not Jack)- in-the-Box, Dolly (with no nose), a spotted Elephant, the cowboy who rides an ostrich, a train with square wheels, and who can forget the water pistol that squirts jelly. Outcasts. Unloved. Uncared for. Rejected. Alone.
That is, rejected and uncared for by everyone except King Moonracer, who circles the earth every night searching for unloved toys in need of help. King Moonracer is a griffin, part lion and part eagle (If you are familiar, think about Aslan from C.S. Lewis’ Narnia.) King Moonracer tells Rudolph, Hermy, and Yukon that a toy can never be truly happy until is has been loved by a child. King Moonracer is all about redemption and adoption and reconciliation and restoration and being truly loved.
Welcome to _____________________. We say “WELCOME,” because we, too, are misfits. Home to misfits, has-beens, outcasts, rejects, the misunderstood, the lonely, and the fed-up-with-man’s-religion. Home to those sick of “church as usual,” sick of religion without power, sick of a claimed faith that is “all hat and no cattle.” A place with probably more questions than answers, other than the answer of “See Jesus. Listen to Him. Do what He says.”
We exist only to connect misfits to Jesus. We are normal people that love Jesus but can no longer be a part of what passes for “church” these days. We are tired of culturally created and accepted norms of “Christian” appearance and practice. We are weary of business as usual, of all talk and no do, of empty, powerless, useless religion that places burdens on people that never sees people change in the reality of Jesus’ empowering presence in their lives.
We’re the ones opening the window, sticking our heads out, and screaming “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”) [If you understand that old movie reference, you’ll fit right in.] And if you are offended by that quote, don’t get near us. We might have cooties. You might just run into an experience with Jesus that messes you up so that you will truly never be the same.
Jesus didn’t come to heal the healthy, but to minister to the sick and hurting. He didn’t come to those who thought they were righteous, but to sinners. Folks who knew that they were in trouble. He came to bring true life, not more religious jargon and rules. Jesus hung out with the rejects…SINNERS… the tax collector traitors, the poor, the women, the oppressed, those beaten up and rejected by man-made religious rules. Jesus came so that we could have life – an abundant life.
So here we are. Nothing special. Just folks that really love Jesus and want to live for Jesus in a sick, post-modern, post-Christian society that desperately needs the truth of the Gospel.
No, that doesn’t mean we accept sin. We just accept sinners. If you spend time with us, you’ll be loved, and accepted for who you are, and who Jesus made you to be. But it will be a challenge.
Which means that if you struggle with alcoholism, we’ll love you through it, but we won’t affirm you and let you believe that Jesus wants you to continue to be a drunk. Jesus wants something better for you.
Which means if you are an adulterer – or addicted to pornography – or a homosexual or lesbian – or having sex with everyone you can find from social media to redneck bars--- we will love you in spite of your sin, but we won’t affirm you and let you believe that your sexual perversion or promiscuity is acceptable to Jesus as a lifestyle. Jesus wants something better for you.
Which means if you are enslaved to materialism and riches and keeping up with the Joneses, we will love you in spite of your poverty of spirit and hefty bank account, but we won’t affirm you and let you believe that your greed and affluence is acceptable to Jesus. Jesus wants something better for you.
Which means if you are blaming everyone else for your misfortunes, and wallowing in self-pity or blowing up in anger, we will love you in spite of your selfishness and immaturity and refusal to grow up, but we won’t affirm you continuing in that condition. Jesus wants something better for you.
So name your poison. We’re all misfits.
No, we believe in holiness, as the Bible teaches. We believe that although we all come to Jesus just as we are—warts, sins, and all -- Jesus loves us too much to let us stay as we are. We believe that Jesus wants us all to be transformed into mature redeemed human beings, created in the image of God, saved by the grace of God and by grace alone.
So, if you are
• Lonely
• Afraid
• Ashamed
• Desperate
• Rejected
• Outcast
• Weird
• Ugly
• Nerd
• Misunderstood
• Sick of “church as usual”
• At your wit’s end
• Alcoholic
• Sexually confused, addicted, tormented, or out of control
• Angry
• Addicted to anything
… We might be a people for you. Just remember. We can’t fix you. We don’t want to fix you. After all, only Jesus can forgive sin, and heal, and restore. It won’t be easy. It will be painful. It will be two steps forward and one step back. Looking in the Bible, seeing Jesus, and doing what He says to do is the scariest thing you will ever do. But it’s worth it.
On the other hand, if you are convinced that following and worshiping Jesus is just a list of rules and do’s and don’ts, and that you can make it if you just keep the rules, then you should probably stay away. This probably isn’t a place you would enjoy. Grace is hard. But it’s worth it.
Or, If you come from a church background and think Jesus requires a certain form of worship, or certain instruments, or only one particular translation of the Bible or only one kind of music, you should definitely protect yourself from any new ideas you might pick up around us. Grace is contagious!
Or, if you think that Jesus came especially for the pretty, the handsome, the in-crowd, the wealthy, the socially acceptable, the culturally religious, the “good people,” (He does love them, too, but just because He loves everyone, not just them) then you should certainly stay away. Grace might catch you by surprise!
Because you might meet Jesus, and He might blow your mind.
Jesus put it this way... "If you are struggling under the load of life, come sit with me, and I'll give you true rest. Do the things I have for you to do, and nothing else -- learn how I live-- and you will find rest, and peace, and restoration, because my tasks are easy and light."
Ready to be a misfit?
