Woodstock

I’m watching a Woodstock documentary. I am filled with sadness. I’ve been trying to put into words why, but I can’t find them. It has something to do with how deeply people hurt and desperately long for something better, yet they look to behaviors and philosophies that ultimately enslave them instead of free them.  With that in mind, it also has something to do with my failure and the church’s failure, by and large, to authentically live in and accurately portray the life and love of Jesus.  When I look at some of the things that have been done in the name of Christ, things he himself would not do or approve of, I am not surprised that the people who experienced or witnessed those things reject him rather than embrace him.  Even so, God continues to woo people to himself, and people continue to embrace the life he offers them.  This is only possible because, among other things, God is merciful, kind, loving, forgiving and patient.

The temptation is to say we need to do better.  We need to find better ways to communicate who Jesus really is to our culture.  We need to live better lives.  We need to try harder.  While I would agree the quality of what we do and how we do needs to  improve, to focus on improving it is to fall into a performance trap. 

I think the answer is to draw nearer.  The only way our lives will ever authentically reflect the beauty and majesty of Jesus, is for us to nurture his life within us.  Our behavior will never be perfect, for we are infected with a tendency to reject God and his ways.  Still, when we nurture the life of Christ in us, that life will show up in the way we live.