The Victorious Limp

This week I kind of feel like a failure.

Most of the testimonies about a victorious Christian life do not match my own experiences. I hear about people giving their lives to Jesus, and their marriages become orgasmic bliss. A young girl becomes a Christian, and a few weeks later she becomes Miss South Africa. Pimples disappear, and jobless people become millionaires. People are healed of incurable diseases and the Blue Bulls become Currie Cup champions.

I struggle to relate!!!

Yet, when I read the New Testament, I get a different picture. Jesus on the cross. The New Testament image of victory is better described as a victorious limp. Jesus was not victorious because he never flinched, talked back or questioned. But, having flinched, talked back and questioned, he remained faithful.

Get this: What makes a good disciple is not a person who has visions and seventh heaven experiences, understands the mysteries of the second coming or overcomes every obstacle with a broad smile and a skip in their step. It’s the man or woman who has a capacity for honesty and faithfulness.

It’s the person who can admit to themselves that they have been bent by the winds of failure, been battered by their own disorganized emotions, have stumbled and regularly fallen, experienced lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to their own lusts and temptations, and wandered off to a far away country. Yet, they keep coming back to Jesus.

After life has left its scars, they can claim, “I am still a ragamuffin, but I’m different.” And they’re right. Where sin abounded, grace has more abounded.

In Hebrews 11, which is often called the gallery of faith heroes, I am confronted by a sobering, yet very comforting truth. Man, what would I not give to be named alongside such spiritual giants. These are the men and women that God chose to give special mention to. Yet, the reality is that Abraham was a liar, David an adulterer and a murderer, Rahab was a whore, Jacob was a cheat, Samson a womaniser and Gideon a coward. That’s what I’m talking about when I refer to the victorious limp!

And then finally I’m brought to the failure of Peter. Peter, the rock, who turned out to be a pile of sand. Jesus told him that before a cock crowed, he would have denied him three times. Of course Peter didn’t believe him He replied “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” In his mind he possessed all the necessary loyalty, strength and faithfulness to be a good disciple. He made the same mistake we all make. He assumed his relationship with Jesus was dependent on his ability to produce the qualities that he thought would earn him the Lord’s approval.
But, after he had indeed failed his Lord, just as Jesus had predicted, he would remember his failure as the moment of the triumph of grace over failure and Christ’s conquering love. Instead of a shrug, sneer, slap or curse, Jesus responded in the kindest and most gracious way imaginable. He named Peter the leader of the faith community and entrusted to him the authority to preach the Good News to the poor in spirit.

This is the victorious limp I speak of. Sinners, regarded as heroes, not because they’re fantastic people, but because of grace.

In John 1:1 we read that the Word was made flesh and he lived among us. This is Jesus saying to you and me, “Yes, the Word was made flesh. I chose to enter your broken world and limp through life with you.”
One day, when we arrive at the great cabin in the sky, many of us will be bloodied, battered, bruised, and limping. But, by God and through Jesus Christ, there will be a “welcome home” sign on the door.

It was Winston Churchill who said, “Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It courage that counts.”

So, to end where I started; I kind of feel like a failure this week. But whilst I’m pretty big on failure, I am bigger on courage. I am nothing more than a ragamuffin! But I am a ragamuffin with extraordinary courage, and next week I will be back to write, having failed, bruised and still struggling. But, I will be back – with my victorious limp!