Jeanne and I love to read. Here’s a quote from one of the many books you can find on Jeanne’s desk these days… From Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, pg. 110:
What happened to me is that I realized I believed in Jesus and thought of myself as “saved” and “redeemed” and “reborn,” yet massive areas of my life were unaffected. I learned that salvation is for all of me. I learned that Jesus wants to heal my soul- now. And for Jesus to heal my soul, I had to stare my junk right in the face. There is so much I could say about this healing of the soul, and it has only just begun for me, but a few things have become quite clear. First, no amount of success can heal a person’s soul. In fact, success makes it worse… If you have issues surrounding your identity, those issues will not go away if you make it… There is a great saying… “Wherever you go, there you are.” … Success doesn’t fix anything. We have the same problems and compulsions and addictions, only now we have more stress and more problems and more pressure.
Jeanne mentioned this quote during this past Wednesday’s Bible Study, in talking about how so many people think that Christianity is a cultural thing, when it’s not. It’s a personal and relational and transformational thing between a person and God, and this quote describes that well.
I like the way Bell gave expression to his experience… “I had to stare my junk right in the face…” In the past, I found this to be such a difficult thing to do. But thankfully, I also found that in Christ’s uncondemning and unconditional love, there was safety to be able to confront myself in ways I never thought possible. Through it all, like Bell, I experienced Christ healing my soul. And Christ continues to heal me, as I engage in an ongoing process of confession and repentance toward him. I totally agree with Bell’s last assessment–no amount of success in my life (academic, professional, or social) ever brought healing for me in this way. You cannot cover over the “junk”; you need to stare it right in the face, and just ask for help to take it out.
