All that Junk

Yesterday, as I was walking lopsided through a typical Russian open-air market with a 12-pound watermelon in one hand and 5-6 pounds of other fruits and vegetables in the other hand, I happened past a vendor with a radio emitting some strange stuff. "Watcha gonna do with all that junk - all that junk inside yo' trunk?"

Anna said, "Oh, I've heard that song. I don't like it." I've heard it before and don't like it either, but I hastened to fill Anna's young mind with more of dad's opinions with a clarification: "That isn't a song, Anna. A song, by definition, requires that someone sing it. He isn't singing. Maybe chanting...or grunting. Grunting about some girl's backside, no less. To which she responded that she didn't want to know what the song was about. Smart kid!

Funny though, how even an uncouth message can be reshaped in one's mind into a message of truth and grace. I have been thinking about the gospel message and how that bizarre chant might be rendered in a gospel context. We all have a lot of "junk" in our "trunks" and the heart of the gospel is that we come to Jesus with all that junk, trunk and all, and leave it in His care.
So, I wound up with an odd juxtaposition of some crass "grunt" with the words of an old gospel song: Watcha gonna do with all that junk? Take it to the cross and leave it there!

That rather nicely dovetails with the message I heard in English yesterday in a Russian Nazarene church, given by an Irish pastor from Scotland...there might be a metaphor in there, but now I'm too exhausted to find it. Anyway, the message was about God's strength being made perfect in our weakness. The pastor bemoaned the long years of distraction in many parts of the holiness movement with the idea of being some sort of super-Christian, rejoicing in our "holiness". He pointed to the example of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, who had much about which he could boast, but said, "Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong."

Denying that we are human, carnal, weak, burdened with problems and faults will never make us more useful for the Master. It is in our openness about these shortcomings that we minister to others most effectively. No one wants to hear the boasts of a super-Christian about how "perfect" he is. That isn't motivating in the least! We should take off the masks, let down our guards, allow ourselves to be vulnerable, and bear one another's burdens.

May it be thus.