Grayson...

"Mr. Rayburn used to always say, 'A jack@$% can kick a barn down. It takes a carpenter to build one.'" -Rep. Paul Driskell

"'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'" -John 8:11

I've got a friend named Grayson. Grayson just turned two years old, and yes, he does love Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Grayson's grandmother is Brenda, our youth assistant. So every once in a while, Grayson will come to play in the office. Needless to say, those days he's in the office are hardly productive.

A little over a year ago, Grayson was in town for a whole week while his mom and dad got their first post-baby vacation. He hung out with us at the office a couple of days that week, and they were the best I've had in my time at FUMC. Throughout the day there were moments of reading books, playing with balls, naps on a cushion, doodling on an iPhone and so much more.

Maybe Grayson's favorite activity during the week was stacking some plastic blue cups into a pyramid. It was a heck of a feat for a 1 and a half year old (although he did have some help from older friends!)

But the building of the pyramid was hardly the best part of the game for Grayson. Like most toddlers, the construction part of the activity wasn't nearly as fun as the destruction part!

Once the stack had gotten too tall, Grayson took it upon himself to become a human tornado and crash through the tower with arms, legs, and really any body part available to him. Cups flung everywhere!

Grayson's only response? A gigantic smile filled with a triumphant "WOW!"

Sometimes I think we're becoming more like Grayson every day. We've gotten really good at tearing things down. We've gotten really good at finding the flaws in things and forgetting to see anything redemptive. We've learned to focus on and point out the negatives and neglect the positives. I know I have.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Just listen to the conversations we have every day. How many of them are complaints about co-workers or classmates? How many times do we point out the flaws in others? How often do we point out the wrong thing someone else did or said?

Just listen to a second of political news. No one has solutions anymore. They're all too busy noting how wrong the other side is to focus on fixing anything. Or just take a look at our Facebook walls or our Twitter feeds. They're cluttered with complaints and problems. They're full of people finding all the things wrong with the world.

A friend of mine captured this perfectly recently in a chat we were having. "It's easy to critique," Marlon said. "It's way harder to create."

I suppose it's no coincidence Jesus was raised and trained as a carpenter. He was a builder, a builder of lives. When a woman was dragged into the town square, caught in adultery, the crowd had already condemned her. They had pointed out all her flaws and torn her apart. They were ready to stone her and kick her to the curb. When Jesus was asked by the leaders what to do, he knelt down and drew with his finger in the sand. After a few short moments, he rose, looked to the crowd, and uttered those memorable words, "Let he who is without blame cast the first stone."

One by one they left until it was just Jesus and the woman. And this woman, naked and exposed, trembling and frightened, torn down and beat up, looked up and I can't imagine the expression on her face. She must have been so ashamed and embarrassed and afraid. But Jesus didn't see a life wasted. He saw a life waiting to be lived. He saw a life ready to be built back up into something more beautiful than it was before.

So he spoke to her in what I imagine was just more than a whisper, "I do not condemn you. Now go and leave your life of sin."

Jesus could've joined the crowd and torn her down. I probably would have I suppose. Because that's easier. It's easier to point out the darkness than it is to become the light.

But nothing gets better when he do nothing more than deconstruct. There's no hope in that work. Sure, sometimes things need to break down for rebirth to begin. But too often our words aren't spoken to nurture rebirth. Too often we settle for standing in the crowd, too busy pointing out the flaws in others, too scared to invest in the work of restoration God has already begun. Too often I settle for that path.

Creating is harder than critiquing. It requires a prophetic imagination. It imagines seeing beyond what is to what can be. And it requires getting our hands dirty and often becoming unpopular.

But it's also the only work that makes anything better. It may be easier to point out the flaws, but as long as we remain onlookers to the imperfections of others, we are merely allowing others to see the insecurities and imperfections we hold so tightly in ourselves.

The work of creating is hard and burdensome. It is often unpopular and lonely. But it's the only way things get better. Until we are prepared to fix things, to enter into brokenness and help redeem it, we have no permission to critique it. Until we're ready to be a part of the solution, we have no authority to complain about the problem.

So may we use our words to build up instead of tear down. May we orient our lives to the breath of life filling our lungs that calls us to a deep "Yes" instead of lingering in the discontent of "No." May we direct our lives towards making this world a better place for those around us and those to come behind us instead. May we get our hands dirty in the work of reconciliation instead of perpetuating the problems of complacency with complaints. And may we participate in the work of resurrection into which our God has invited us instead of pointing to the places where hell remains.

forever unfinished...