Like most people in their mid-30s I was
first introduced to Rick McKinley by Donald Miller in his book Blue
Like Jazz. It was here that I first read about Rick’s passion
to re-imagine church – to change the image of church for people that
feel beyond reach. Pastor Rick and his wife moved to Portland, Oregon
to establish a community “for people to discover the love of Christ
in the reality of life,” (taken from his book’s back cover).
In Rick’s book, Jesus in the Margins, he explains how the encompassing
love of Jesus reaches down into the margins of society. That He came
to Earth for those broken souls that usually go unnoticed by mainstream
society. Throughout the book, Rick walks the readers into the margins
of life, showing them that it is in the margins that we see the image
of God (Imago Dei incidentally is the name of the community started
by he and his wife).
How many of you have seen the figurine
of Jesus playing soccer, baseball, or football with the kids? This is
the culturally agreed upon image of Christ most of us have in our heads
– right or wrong. Rick’s description would be a harder sell in the
Christian bookstores. He describes Jesus as a misfit in his family,
town, and culture He grew up in (Chapters 2 and 3). Jesus grew up in
a small, rural town amidst whispers, behind the back accusations, and
branded an illegitimate child. He didn’t fit the status quo – he
was a “friend of sinners” (p. 51).
Jesus in the Margins opens and
closes with chapters devoted to real life stories of people. They share
their stories of life: neglect, sexual abuse, growing up fatherless,
success-driven personalities, and homelessness. Each story is my story,
not because I have gone through each of these circumstances, but because
‘margin dwellers’ feel that they are alone and have no real expectation
to be welcomed if someone knew their ‘real story’.
We are not supposed to do life alone.
We are supposed to live life in community with other Christ followers
– we are “wired” for community. We need each other – without
community we cannot become all we were designed to be (we were created
on purpose and with a purpose). Just because we are meant to be in community,
does not mean community is always neat. Rick says that “community
is messy” (p. 162). It is messy because those that live in “community
are required to fall at Jesus’ feet and beg him for the love it takes
to obey the ‘one another’ commands” (p. 162). We exist for God
and for those in our community.
Rick’s life is his book. He writes
with an honest voice, accepting that he cannot do anything for God to
love him more or less. He accepted many years ago that reality is a
tough place to be with or without Jesus – life is not fair, but God
is in control. Rick says that “sin is our desire to run our own lives
any way we want” (p. 65), and that no matter how many times he fails,
that “grace…keeps coming my way…” (p. 68). This is what resonated
with me the most – no matter how many times I try to do things my
way; I’m going to screw things up; just as much as I make a mess of
my life, “You are accepted because of what Christ has done for you,
not because of what you can do for Christ” (p. 144).
- Jesus wasn’t murdered to
save only certain people – His death was for all (past, present, and
future) people, actions, and thoughts.
- Knowing about Christ and knowing
Christ are two different things.
- “He is intimately involved
in your daily affairs, and he wants you to trust that he is going to
take care of you.”
- “Grace is all about getting
something you don’t deserve.”
- “God will never leave the
home he is creating in your heart….Even sin won’t send him packing.”
- “Isolation is the garden
of the devil.”
- “Satan can have his way
with believers as long as they’re stuck in the margins”
- “Caring for people who are
different from me is not the pastor’s job or the small group leader’s
job. It is my job and your job and we need to do it out of love.”
