When we returned to North Africa a few years ago, we returned to a mess. We weren’t unknowing—we were very much knowing the mess. We learned a few weeks prior that a main believer we discipled had fallen into sin and disappeared. In the wake of his fall, the groups of disciples and house churches imploded or disbanded—disappointed and disillusioned. It was tempting to cancel our flight and stay home, but we pressed on to reunite with our team on the ground.
On that flight back, I watched the film 1917. I might not recommend it if you want something lighthearted. At the least, it was adapted for the airline. It was a grueling film about WWI. The film followed the true story of a British soldier named Sgt. Reid who was preparing his battalion for battle and how he dealt with day-to-day difficulties of life in the trenches, triaging terrible injuries, and enduring exhaustion from limited resources. At one point, the film became too much that I paused it. The still frame was of a bombed-out church building. Although the church was in ruins it was still recognizable. It was a power image for me.
Our team was looking to us for leadership in the aftermath on the spiritual battlefield. We came back to a church in rubble and ashes. Our first team meeting back was a puddle of tears. We grieved—what seemed like—3 years of ministry gone in a moment. We wrestled with the anger of an MBB who walked away from the Lord and inflicted damage to a fledgling flock. We questioned whether we had it in us to endure more of the same. It felt like an insurmountable mess. (And you came to be encouraged, eh!?)
Our mission is to move/go towards the mess embodying God’s grace, proclaiming the mysterious gospel, and building up the Body.
We are in a World of a Mess. All arenas of life and every aspect of society are messy. Work. Politics. Marriage. Parenting. Life. Everything humans touch becomes messy.
Even the church is touched by human messes. You shouldn’t be surprised. Some people see the church and observe what you are like and say, “I don’t want any part of that.” Those who say this need to adjust their thinking to the real world that we live in. The church is made up of sinners—saved by grace, yes—but still sinners. How can one ever think you can have a church and not have a mess? That is ridiculous, unrealistic, and a destructive expectation. The church has messes. If your church isn’t messy then you’re probably new to the church or not well connected. The church is a mess hall—a place to gather, get fed, and get ready for battle.
This leads me to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. To give a little history, Ephesus was a church planted by the missionary and famous preacher Apollos (Acts 18:24). Later Paul stopped through Turkey on his second missionary journey to visit this fledgling church plant of about 12 people. He stayed on for 3 months. In that 3-month visit he saw a dramatic encounter with the seven sons of Sceva and a mob scene (Acts 19:8ff). He extended his stay to 3 years. So 3 years Paul was in Ephesus, forming and fortifying the church. At one point, Luke described the church in Ephesus as a place where, “the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily” (Acts 19:20). That sums up the church’s beginning. Ephesus was a poster church..for a little while.
George Verwer the long-time director of Operation Mobilization said,
“Where two or three are are gathered in Jesus name. Sooner or later there will be a mess.”(Messiology)
And there was a mess in Ephesus. So much so that Timothy was sent to Ephesus—not to a cushy pastoral position, rather to do clean-up duty. We don’t know the exact nature of what went wrong in Ephesus as nothing is spelled out exactly. Paul’s two letters to Timothy give us glimpses of what happened. The church was on the brink of a breakdown. Timothy was called upon to deal with certain persons and behaviors that invaded the church.
Pause for a second. Any messes in your life right now? If you’re at all like me, this probably doesn’t require a lot of mulling over.
We Know How to Make a Mess (Ephesians 2:1-3)
Kids do not need to be taught how to make a mess. That comes naturally. Humans do not need to be taught how to make a mess. Look at what Ephesians says about the mess we were in (2:1-3): v.1) We were dead and disobedient. Living in sin like the rest of the world, v.2) We were fathered by the enemy and his spirit directed our hearts, and v.3) Our desires were unhinged. This describes a hopeless condition (sick/dead). We were stuck (in a snare) in our mess and there was nothing we would do about it. Now don’t equate the word sin with simply a mess, mistake, or oops, but it is cosmic treason (spiritual bankruptcy). 2:12-13, 17 “you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated … and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world,”
What we have seen when evangelizing Muslims in North Africa that they can see that they are sinners, but they don’t see that their sin is that big of a deal. They believe humans are born innocent and pure, their prophets are perfect and sinless, and can’t see how their sin affects others or get passed on. They minimize sin and rank it (i.e. piety, lying, arguing, domestic violence). It isn’t that different in other places with other people around the world—and it may sound like our modern world. We can’t expect unbelievers to believe any differently.
Now when we have seen Muslims come to faith in Christ they bring a lot of baggage into their new faith. They have a lot of spiritual hangovers from their old faith of trying to live holy (i.e. prayer/fasting forms, renouncing vows, relating to wife/kids, redeeming shame). The discipleship journey is messy and takes time, patience, and persistence to help them walk the right path. We can wrongly expect a new follower in Jesus to get overnight what has taken us years to know and grow into. And for some of us, we are still growing into years later.
Thankfully the story doesn’t end with verse 3. There is an amazing turn of events. ”But God…” All the best parts of the Bible come after BUT GOD. What John Stott calls the greatest two syllables ever spoken in the English language. BUT GOD. God comes to the rescue. God delivers. God gives us what we need to get unstuck. What God has given us: life (2:4-9). This new life give to us is—1) a God-initiated life (vs. 4-5), 2) a God-resurrected life (vs. 6-7), and 3) a God-gifted life (vs.8-9). It was a life undeserved. The word that is repeated over and over again in these verses that helps us to understand is grace.
We Must Grasp onto Grace that is Greater than Our Sin (2:4-9)
Grace isn’t an exclusively Christian concept. At the time Paul was writing his letter to the followers of Jesus who lived in the city of Ephesus, the idea of χάρις (grace) was well established. All the way back to folks like Aristotle and Plato, you see the term grace used to describe something that is given, absolutely freely, with no expectation of return. Everyone understood grace to be about a generous gift, something you received for no reason, and something you couldn’t pay back—even if you wanted to. So that was the scroll on which Paul sketched the Christian concept of grace.
You were dead in sin, but God gave you life because you couldn’t. That’s grace. You didn’t earn it, you can’t return it, and you can’t undo it. That’s grace. In Christ, God has seated you in His system of grace. The remedy for your mess is grace.
When you read the Gospels we see Jesus stepping into your mess (our world). He was grace on display. From his birth to his death on the cross he oozed grace to bring you peace. When you consider this you cannot help but sing: Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. Freely bestowed on all who believe! All who are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive? Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace that is greater than all our sin!
God is at work in the mess. God in his patience, grace, and passion brings men and women to himself often doing great things amid a mess. Yet in the mess is not where one is to remain …
God Moves us to Go toward the Mess (2:10)
Grace is transforming. It changes you. It’s contagious. It moves your church. It has to be shared and spread. God has designed grace to be walked out (2:10). 1) You are a display of God’s workmanship. 2) God has prepared in advance. 3) God moves you to go towards the mess by embodying grace, proclaiming the gospel, and building up the Body.
Workmanship comes from the Greek word poema, which we get our word poem (handiwork, masterpiece, artistry, creativity, performed). Grace is an extension of God’s beauty and his beautiful plan. Grace in you is God’s artistry that he has designed from eternity past that you walk in it today. Walk is the action of going. God’s grace leads to action. Movement. Toward.
3 ways we extend (walk out) grace to others.
How can I show God’s grace to my family, friends, co-workers, or even strangers? 1) Extend forgiveness. First, we can forgive because we have been forgiven. “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7) God is not a furrowed browed Father who says, “What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you get it right?” God is a tender Father who says, “I love you. You are forgiven. Get up and go at it again. I will help you!” Every day we experience God’s grace because every day we make messes. No mess is too much for God. And only God can forgive me, cleanse me, and redeem me from my mess.
Second, I can extend that forgiveness to others, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (4:32) Messes must not separate us, but bring us together. Grace takes away judgment and leads to compassion. Grace creates a bond over our brokenness and the beauty that God makes of us.
2) Extend encouragement. Grace is constructive not destructive. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29) And this is echoes other one another’s in the letter, “bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2) “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” (Ephesians 5:19) “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21) Waiting to encourage others until their life is cleaned up and less messy is like waiting to go to the ER when they’ve stop bleeding. God doesn’t love some future version of others. He loves in the mess.
Grace gets dirty. Sarah moved Sarah to step towards a boy chained up next door, suffering, and needing deliverance. For years he had been hurting himself and tormented by demons. Sarah asked to pray over him in Jesus’ name. With permission from the head of the household, she prayed over the boy and witnessed his healing and freedom.
3) Extend the hope of the gospel. Paul described his role as a “stewardship of God’s grace… that was given to me for you,” (3:2) which means you and I carry a responsibility (moreover privilege) to give out grace as freely as we have been given grace. In the Bible, stewards were the trusted managers of a household, palace, or large estate. Royal stewards were second only to the king and often had control over the king’s treasury, his palace, and some military assets. They were also representatives of the king, carrying out his work on his behalf until he returned. That’s you! Paul continues, “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things.” (3:8-9) Whether you speak, love, or serve, you are to extend hope of nothing less than greatest news in the world. You are the King’s messenger.
Sarah was able to see a breakthrough in our crusty neighborhood. She began by reading Bible stories to a group of children at a Quranic School who couldn’t afford a teacher. She met with women and children to study and memorize the Scripture. She was able to pray over a young boy who was demonized. She was able to nurture orphan children from a mother who came to faith but died. We were able to see the formation and influence of a media project ministry that touched souls around the city and country with the good news. We were able to see the launch of two new teams in Chad among the unreached. We were able to experience a new dependence upon the Lord that we would not have but through the messes, we stepped back into.
Read any mission biography and you will see men and women going towards messes. David Brainerd served a few years among the native Americans and died of TB at 29, BUT GOD used Brainerd’s diary to stir a new wave of missionaries to the unreached. William Carey lost his life’s work of Bible translations in a tragic fire, BUT GOD caused the Bengali church to grow and spread. David Svea led one boy to Christ in the Congo before he lost his pregnant wife to malaria. He left his newborn daughter and the mission field never to return. He became a drunk, BUT GOD used that one boy to lead 600 others to Christ in his village and spread the gospel to hundreds of thousands of others. We have seen carnage in Chad due to marriage conflict, team implosions, unforeseen illnesses, and more. Our own family was on the cusp of being a statistic due to burnout, depression, and identity battles. BUT GOD is building His church in Chad! What is your BUT GOD story?
Three questions to ask yourself:
1) Am I going toward the messes within me? Are you allowing God’s grace to touch all areas of your soul and life? Has the gospel taken root in you?
2) Am I going toward the messes close to me? Are you seeing the messes in your community (or church) and stepping toward them rather than away from them? Are you bringing the gospel to those around you?
3) Am I going towards the messes into new places/nations? Am I asking the question, “Where next, God?” Or even, “Who next, God?”
Go towards the mess in you, others, and the world. Watch God’s grace shine!
spreading the fame 