{"id":93673,"date":"2019-12-19T14:29:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T21:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/?p=93673"},"modified":"2019-12-19T14:29:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T21:29:59","slug":"misfits-welcome-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/holidays\/featured-holidays\/christmas\/misfits-welcome-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Misfits Welcome Here"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Somewhere between late August and early September, I hear Christmas music drifting down the hall from my daughter\u2019s room. By mid-October, both of my kids have started their Christmas lists, and by early November, their Dad\u2019s had one-too-many requests to drag the tinsel and lights down from the attic.<\/p>\n

But for me, Christmas feels \u201cofficial\u201d once the TV specials air. No, I\u2019m not a \u201cNot until after Thanksgiving!\u201d legalist. When the Christmas feels come at you, by all means, go for it. For me, there\u2019s just something about the cheesy, childhood nostalgia that gives me the red-and-green warm fuzzies. It\u2019s as if Charlie Brown himself whispers, \u201cChristmas is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of my favorite Christmas shows as a kid was \u201cRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer\u201d\u2014the 1964 one narrated by Burl Ives (aka Sam the Snowman). I watched it every year with my brothers, and now, I watch it every year with my kids. But as an adult, I watch my old favorite with new eyes.<\/p>\n

The Island of Misfit Toys<\/h2>\n

My favorite part is the Island of Misfit Toys. It\u2019s this bring-your-own-weirdness kind of place where your idiosyncrasies are welcomed instead of shamed. Broken? You can hang with us. We\u2019re broken, too. A Charlie-in-the-box? Go ahead and sit by the \u201cchoo-choo\u201d with the square wheels.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a place where everyone sees you for who you really are: a misfit. And you\u2014in all your misfit-ness\u2014won\u2019t be rejected. Because here on the Island, broken is the norm.<\/p>\n

If you think about it, we\u2019re all a bunch of misfits, right? I know I am. I once mocked the mere thought of an all-knowing, all-powerful God. (I\u2019ve always related more to Paul than, say, John the Baptist). I embraced sin and followed my heart. Trust me, there\u2019s a reason God said \u201cThe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?\u201d (Jeremiah 17:9). That desperate sickness? Deep sin and brokenness.<\/p>\n

But even now, instead of accepting these broken pieces as part of my story, I often try to hide them. Hide from<\/em> them. A bit like Adam in the Garden of Eden.<\/p>\n

When Adam felt the effects of sin upon him after he and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, in shame, he covered himself. But God\u2014yes, all-knowing and all-powerful\u2014walks in the garden seeking Adam. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d He asks (Genesis 3:9). Make no mistake here. God knew exactly where Adam was. And God knew that instead of seeking Him, Adam hid.<\/p>\n

But like Rudolph and his friends were told by the Island\u2019s king, \u201cliving creatures can\u2019t hide themselves.\u201d \u00a0Yet we try. We try to hide our idiosyncrasies, our fears, our imperfections, our misfit-ness. Even from God. We might push Him away or try to \u201chide,\u201d because we don\u2019t think He can (or wouldn\u2019t want to) handle how far our brokenness, sin, and shame really go.<\/p>\n

But like one of my favorite lines of the movie, \u201cMaybe misfits have a place, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receive more encouraging content like this delivered to your inbox!<\/i><\/span> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Misfits welcome here<\/h2>\n

In a strange sort of way, the Island of Misfit Toys is a little like the Church. A bunch of broken, sinful creatures hanging around together. And like those toys, we\u2019re waiting. Waiting on love, acceptance, and wholeness.<\/p>\n

We celebrate Christmas because God sent our long-awaited salvation in the form of His Son, a tiny infant who would go on to bear the weight of a broken world\u2019s sin. The sin He could plainly see. His Son was our way out of the pit of shame. Because unlike those toys, we\u2019ve been made whole through Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection. He deems us loved, accepted, and worthy.<\/p>\n

Romans 5 tells us, \u201cbut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us \u2026 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life\u201d (verses 8, 10).<\/p>\n

Christmas is for the misfits\u2014the broken and lonely, the forgotten, the ones the world labels \u201cweird,\u201d the shame-filled sinner still in hiding. Can\u2019t seem to get it all together? Christmas is for you, too. And you don\u2019t have to bring your \u201cA-game\u201d either. Just come as you are. As God reminded Paul (and us, too), \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness\u201d (2 Corinthians 12:9).<\/p>\n

While the rest of the world sees beauty in perfection (especially this time of year), Christmas reminds us there is beauty in the broken, hope for the hopeless. Christmas says, \u201cMisfits welcome here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Copyright \u00a9 2019 by FamilyLife. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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