Fitting in

I was never part of the in crowd from kindergarten on up. I have never fit in and I still don't. I have yet to find a Bible tailored to my niche demographic - Asian American, single, homeschooling moms who like Star Wars and get mail from AARP. If I"m honest, I want acceptance, and I want to fit in even if it's fitting in among those who don't.

Recently, I was bemoaning that lack of fit-in-ness or doing an indirect boast ("Hah! You'll never pigeonhole me, you pigeon-holers. I defy categorization!") I'm not sure which it was, when my daughter said to me, "The only category you need to be concerned about is being in Christ, and God has already fit you in."

Bingo.

In Christ  - the only place where real acceptance can be found, where we can find peace and our true identify, and the only category where eternity is at stake. Life and death hang in the balance on whether you're in or out.  We can strive to get in with all our might, but there's absolutely nothing we bring to the table. Our ethnicity, our ancestry (automatic disqualification right there), our looks, our brains, our connections, our status, our good works don't amount to a hill of beans.

But isn't this why the gospel is such good news? Because God has fit us in..

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:26-31.

And this is why He gets and deserves all the glory.