“Don’t you know that sinners are the only kinds of men that Jesus can love?” William Still, a Scottish pastor, once asked this question to a young student who, though pretending to ‘have it together,’ was really quite a mess inside.
At the beginning of a new school year, Still’s question is an appropriate one for us here at Duke. After all, we are a bit of a mess inside, too, aren’t we? Yet, as we meet so many new people this time of year, the natural tendency is to put our best foot forward and hope to conceal our brokenness and pettiness from them. Maybe, we think, if I can just show them my best qualities, and hide my blemishes, we can all be great friends. Maybe then I’ll be accepted.
But when we come around Jesus and those who love him, we have to throw all such pretense out the door. Within the context of a community that loves and worships Christ, we can and must be real with each other. Because as we read the pages of Scripture, it becomes clear that Jesus, rather than looking for the ‘together, ’the ‘polished’ or the perfect, is seeking to befriend and love the unlovely, the wretched and the flawed. He’s not looking for people with something to offer, but rather calling morally bankrupt, disobedient, broken people to accept his offer to follow him. Indeed, it seems that the main people who invite his wrath are those who claim to have it together or seek to conceal their rebellion and brokenness.
So as you come to Cru this fall, please know that we want you to come as you are. There are no prerequisites, no qualifying tests, no entrance exams. Cru exists to help students experience Christ, and the only thing that qualifies anyone for Christ is this—that she be a great sinner, a ‘mess inside.’ For centuries on end, when those kinds of people have come to Christ, they’ve found in Him a deeper love and acceptance than they could have every dreamed. We pray that you’ll find the same in Him this year at Duke and in Cru.
Blessings,
Cole
