This week of camp was called "The Mess" and was based off of the book "Messy Spirituality" by Yaconelli. I have yet to read this book but after this week it is now on my list. It was an intense week culminating in me preaching last night for us to reach out and cry out "Abba Father" or "Daddy" like a little child. However, I saw more than just running to the father this week.
Wednesday was the most intense day of the camp for everyone. We had a morning activity where we had to do certain tasks in order to find puzzle pieces to put together. First team to put the puzzle together won. My team was amazing. I had seven girls and 3 boys in my specific team and we were one of eight teams. My group came together and did everything that was asked of them. We had to dress alike at one station, pick up trash at another, give the dean a drink, and at one even run over a mile. When my team got our final puzzle piece there were two other teams already putting theirs together, but my team flew through the puzzle and got it together first. We had come in first. However, this was not a good thing actually.
See, the game was all to show how we serve the world. Dress alike, be fit, watch TV, and other things. It showed the idols that we worshipped. I knew this the whole time but my team didn't. (I was still proud of my team because they hustled beyond all belief) So we took all the kids up to the gym and Jason, the dean, told them of the secret behind the game and that they had to be punished for their sins of serving the world. Jason had prepared a slip and slide, but this had baby oil, shaving cream, rotten milk, and the left over liquids from the bucket that everyone had been pouring their leftover stuff in all week. And each kid had to go through it. It was their punishment.
So since my team won we walked them down to the slip and slide. I had girls crying in my group. I had to put my arms around them to get them going but I had to keep telling them that they had to go through. So we got to the slip and slide and we were ready. Jason called one of my kids up to go first. Right before the kid took the slide I got in front of him and told him not to move. Jason then told Carly to go. "Don't move Carly!" I yelled. People later told me that they thought Jason and I were about to fight and that I would be kicked out. Jason kept calling kids forward and I yelled for each one of them to stay put. When Jason yelled at me that someone had to go through my response was "This is my team! This is my team! I love them! I will go through that for everyone of them! They don't have to go through it!" Jason yelled at me that it was their crap, their mess and I just yelled back "Not anymore!" I slid through the baby oil, the rotten milk, the backwashed drinks, the dirty nasty water from the creek. I took it for my team. It was possibly one of the grossest things I've ever done.
When do we look at our mess in a visual form? Faith has been watered down to the point of almost non-existence anymore. For those of us who have been in the church for a while we forget everyday what Christ went through for us. How we deserved death, yet we do not die. We deserve damnation, but with Him we have life. And how many times do we run to him crying out with joy for what He did? You see, I just went through some nasty stuff. But for my team it didn't matter. After I had cleaned up and changed clothes I went down to my team meeting spot. And every single one of my kids ran to me and wrapped their arms around me. I felt a joy at the appreciation they had for me. I felt a joy that I could do that for them. And it was just a glimpse to what God must feel every time one of his children runs to Him and wrap their arms around Him. I was a team leader and a dorm dad to those kids, but I'm nothing compared to the Abba Father I have in heaven. So my thing for the day is just try to put the wages of your sin in visual form. Try and think of what you should owe. What you should have to go through. You will find a new appreciation for the sacrifice laid out for you. And if you do this, never again will you just think of Christ's death as a normal thing for you. A new appreciation will be found for the everyday life and relationship we have with our Abba Father. When we cry out to him like a little child saying, "Abba, daddy, I love you."
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