We learn the most from people living on the edges

Today Bob Goff asks us to reflect on those holiday parties or social events we've felt we were invited to or we attended out of a sense of obligation. Maybe we felt not wanted or out of place there.

He goes on to talk about our churches - how this often happens there. He says, too often "we tell people to 'come as they are,' but only if they'll change enough to make us comfortable once they arrive.

Those words made me think of something I wrote recently about church clothes. I think a lot of people mistakenly thought I was criticizing people who dress up for church. What I was really wondering out loud is, when the church body looks so completely put together, is it truly inviting to the people who are completely falling apart, who maybe don't have the capacity to look as well put together as everyone else.

I can't remember the last time I was in church and someone nearby made me feel uncomfortable with their brokenness. I'm always around people who make me feel at peace and at home - like a holiday party I've felt completely wanted at.

I think of all the places Jesus visited, where even his own disciples wondered out loud or in their heads - uhm, what on earth are we doing here, with THESE people?

I thought of my recent trip to Honduras - where I spent several days around people who couldn't hide much of their brokenness, who didn't speak my language, who challenged my comfort over and over again. And I thought about all God taught me about grace in the midst of it all.

Many days we are all motivated by comfort. Maybe you're not, but I know I am. Whether I'm completely aware or unaware of it, so many of my next choices are going to be driven by the pursuit of comfort. Stability. By surrounding myself with known, protecting myself from the unknown.

I work to be healthier. Wealthier. Have a cozier bed, clothes, and home. In pursuit of it all - I'll be driven to hang out with people that make me more and more comfortable.

Who goes around inviting people into their lives that make them feel uncomfortable? Who invites people from the edges into a life that feels quite nice right in the middle, far away from those risky and at times hard to understand edges?

I was reflecting on a recent trip I took through the book of Genesis. I think about all the lessons I learned about grace in that chapter. I think about just how close to the edges so many of those folks who taught me those lessons lived.

I think some days I forget the real lessons I'm supposed to be learning in this life. And - I think some days I foolishly believe the people most equipped to teach me those lessons look like me, make me feel like a me I desire to be instead of the me I need to be, a me who will only come to life hanging out with people on the edges.

Kind of like Jesus did.