Ripping Off Roofs

Roof - "The structure forming the upper covering of a building"

It has been over a month since I wrote my last blog post. I just got back from serving for 3 weeks on Summer Staff at Windy Gap - A Young Life Camp. I was able to serve with incredible individuals, both college students and high schoolers, who gave up their time to see high school students around the country have the best week of their life and experience what a life with Jesus is supposed to look like. In our first week at Windy Gap, our camp director went over the story in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus heals a paralytic man (Mark 2:1-12). At the time when Jesus healed the paralytic, there was a large crowd surrounding Jesus who had traveled to encounter him because they heard of the good works that he had done. A group of men brought a paralyzed man to be healed by Jesus yet they could not get to him because there was no room in the home where Jesus was preaching. In order for the men to reach Jesus, they had to dig through the roof and create a space where they could lower him. Scripture says: "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven." The camp director, after reading this story, described to us that our work was similar to the ripping of the roof in the Gospel passage. Every high schooler who walked through those gates came from a different experience & background and carried a unique story. At some point, like every other human, they had experienced injustice, sin, and brokenness in their life. Since they have a desire to be seen, known, and accepted for who they are, our job was to metaphorically rip off roofs so that they could enjoy their time at Windy Gap and live a week of joy so that they could truly see why Jesus has called them a beloved and chosen child of God. Yet what stood in the way of them encountering Jesus, were the roofs that had blocked them from knowing and perceiving God's intentionality and love for them.

Usually we think of roofs as a beneficial thing. They provide shelter and protect our homes from rain, snow, wind, and natural disasters. They provide warmth and security for the places in which we live. But when something stands in the way between us and our Heavenly Father, it does not serve a good purpose. The problem is that the places that obstruct us from coming into contact with Jesus are a product of our brokenness and sin. The places that have appeared to provide fulfillment, safety, and security for us have actually been sheltering us from facing freedom in Christ. The beauty that surrounds these places is real and nourishing but sometimes the only way to show others or remind them of this beauty is to rip and tear off the roofs so that they can see what has been so long unseen. Yet the only way that we can rip off roofs to remind and illustrate to people just how much they mean to the Lord, is through one source that transcends all obstacles, boundaries, & walls: love. When we give up our time and energy to embrace a humble mindset and do what is required to bring people to Jesus, it is because of love. Love is the reason why we can follow the path that God has set before us. Love is the reason why we can feel reminded of how we don't need the approval of anyone or anything but the only approval we ever really need is that of Jesus. And the good news is that you have Jesus' love because of how you were carefully woven and formed into the image and likeness of God. But how can individuals be shown, reminded, and convinced of this, if there are places that society has built which has barricaded us from seeing the truth? The only way to visualize truth, experience truth, and know the truth is to remove the focal points which society has told us is the way to see what matters, yet in reality are actually the blinders that prevent us from seeing clearly.

So let us rip off roofs the way that my brothers and sisters in Christ did at Windy Gap for Session 1. Let us show people the way to the foot of the cross and not to the desires of this world. Let the Holy Spirit live and move in you and through you so that you can see what really matters and show that to every person you meet. For when we act like Jesus, live like Jesus, and love like Jesus, we exhibit an aura about ourselves that sets us apart from the rest of the world. People can become curious and question what is different about the way we conduct ourselves. From this curiosity can they be shown beauty and be told of just how empowering God's love really is. Therefore friends I ask you, let us rip off roofs and love boldly, together.