Jane
and I used to raise collies…you know, like Lassie. There are actually two kinds
of collies, roughs (like Lassie) with long, flowing coats and smooths, with
very short, close to the body coats (they kind of look like a naked collie).
There’s always a huge discussion among collie breeders as to what their
preference is…in other words, “Do you like roughs or smooths?”
I
know what I prefer in collies, but one of the questions I’ve been giving a lot
of thought to lately is this one: “Do I prefer people to be rough or
smooth?” Yes, I know it’s an odd question, but here’s what I mean by it. I have
a lot of friends, many of whom, maybe most of whom, claim to be Christians. And
when I say “Christian” I’m talking about people who have made a conscious
decision to follow Christ, not just folks who were born into a particular faith
or who had parents who were observant church-goers.
Anyway,
I have some Christian friends who are as smooth as silk, at least as far as I
can tell. They talk nice, they act religious, their Facebook posts are always
civil; they just don’t seem to have any rough edges. And may I just say…of you,
my smooth friends, I am very suspicious! Maybe I’ve been around “Churchianity” too
long…maybe I’m jaded…maybe I’m even a bit cynical, but come on…nobody is that
smooth. My experience is, put into the right situation, many of the smoothest
folks I’ve known can turn into buzz saws. They’re like Transformers®. They
change from innocent looking pew-sitters into foaming-at-the-mouth pit bulls in
an instant, when provoked. The problem with smooth people is you never know
when that’s going to happen. I’m sorry, but if you’re one of those people who
seems to have it all together…and tries to convince me you have all your rough
edges knocked off…I’m going to be skeptical of you…actually, to be very honest…I’m
a little scared of you.
On
the other hand, I have some really great people in my life who are “rough as a
cob”, and we both know it. They’re some of my favorite people, by the way. It’s
not that they want to be rough, they are just in process and there are still
some obvious and apparent jagged shards, sticking out all over the place. The
danger of being in relationship with these folks is minimized because I know
going in they’re not perfect. Sometimes they use harsh language, sometimes they
have bad habits and sometimes they blow it…royally. They’re rough, really rough…but
then I knew that.
Maybe
one of the reasons I like rough people better than smooth ones is because…well,
you guessed it…I’m rough too. I wish I wasn’t. I wish I had everything together
like some of my friends pretend they do. I wish my emotions were always in
check, I wish I didn’t have any bad habits, and I wish, most of all I wish, I
looked a whole lot more like Jesus than I do. But the truth is…I’m rough around
the edges…and sometime right in the middle too. There, I said it, in case you
thought differently (and you didn’t if you know me at all), I’m not perfect!
I
think a lot of us who follow Jesus get a bum rap, and I think some of my smooth
friends are to blame. A lot of people think what Christ-followers are all about
is telling people to get “smooth.” Nothing could be further from the truth, at
least not for me. That has never been my battle cry. If I could boil it down, I’d
say it like this…The highest calling we have is not to get smooth…it’s to get
honest. And really, if you have the kind of friends who only like you when you’re
smooth (or pretend to be), you need some new friends.
Perhaps
this is my very favorite thing about God. He knows me inside and out, with all
the roughness, yet He still loves me, He’s still my friend. Pretty awesome,
huh? He didn’t come into this relationship thinking or even hoping I was smooth.
He knew I was rough, He knew I had bumps and bruises and broken stuff. He knew,
and yet…He loved me. We live in a world where when things get broken, we throw
them out. Not God. When He sees something that’s broken He stops, stoops down
and picks up the broken pieces and promises to love us even though…we’re in
shambles. So stop trying to be smooth…just be honest. Here, let me help you by
going first. “I’m broken, I’m rough, I’m a mess…but…I am loved!
