“The One with the Wounded and the Healers”

“The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded.”

The Grace that God has given us through Jesus dying on the cross is completely radical. I’m thankful everyday for the fact that my mess-ups, imperfections and all too often my boneheadedness are forgiven through this grace. We freely accept this grace from Christ, but do we freely offer this grace to those around us?

Manning’s quote is all too true in our day and age. We go to church and put on the masks that we have everything together. We pretend that we don’t have sins that we struggle with, that we have a low self image or that we question God. When we pretend we’re perfect, we also raise the expectations of those around us. We play the game long enough and end up forgetting that we’re all a bunch of imperfect people wearing these masks and then it happens…someone makes a mistake.

Perfect people don’t make mistakes, imperfect people do. It could be any mistake. It could be forgetting to bring a pie to a church dinner or missing a meeting. We get upset and hold a grudge with that person. We’re mad because they let us see a little bit of what is really behind the mask.

Jesus offers us this grace where we don’t have to wear a mask or pretend that we’re perfect. He loves us for who we are. Why can’t we do the same with those around us? We spend far too much time beating up those we sit next to in our pews or work alongside on mission trips. We need to remember that we’re called to heal those who are wounded and not wound those who are healing.