Is it really that complicated?

“I just don’t know where I fit…” I heard this statement the other day from a very sincere believer. I could tell from their tone of voice and the expression on their face that this was a haunting question they desperately wanted answered.
I have also heard the inverse statement of this question, “I don’t think I fit here (anymore)”.

I must admit, questions and statements like the above leave me genuinely stymied not to mention a little (all right a lot!) frustrated. I’m not frustrated with the people, I’m frustrated with the work of the deceiver and divider of the brethren (Genesis 3:1). The enemy has been able to successfully shape a readily accepted perspective on the Church that is simply not true. In what should be the most welcoming community on earth, where absolutely everyone fits regardless of age, colour, background and baggage, the enemy has been able to segment and compartmentalize people causing at least 2 tragic outcomes; 1. The isolation and insecurity of individuals and, 2. The weakening of the Church.

When I open a jigsaw puzzle and begin to sort the pieces I know with certainty that every piece, regardless of shape, size and colour, fits. It doesn’t even enter my mind that there may be redundant or unusable pieces, everyone of those pieces is absolutely necessary to display the image they were intended to. While I may not yet know the exact place each piece fits, I know that they all fit and are all necessary to complete the picture. It would be ludicrous to take 100 pieces from the box and try to make a separate picture. The only thing that would happen is that both would be incomplete and fail to display what they were created to.

I believe that for the Church to properly, and fully, display the image that we were created to – that of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12) we must rid ourselves of the destructive notion that not everyone fits or that there is more than one image we are to display. We need to approach church life with the simple confidence that everyone (including ourselves) fits and there is only one image that we are all called to display – a family (every age) of believers displaying Jesus Christ to the world (in word & deed) through their unity and love for one another. When we can do this we’ll stop hearing, “I don’t think I fit here anymore”, and the quest to find one’s specific place will be free from the insecurity that wondering if you actually have a place brings. This will bring a much greater strength to the church (Eph 4:16) and a much greater depth of love and relationship in the church.