A couple weeks ago marked the series finale of the TV show House, and something completely unexpected happened that, ironically, viewers have anticipated since the show’s beginning.
And that is…
Dr. House, the jerk, drug-addict, selfish, screwed up, star of the show gets together with Cuddy, the sweet, gorgeous, good-looking, shows too much cleavage, continual object of affection on the show.
The closing minutes of the finale show House ready to pop a Vicodin pill, thus renewing his addiction, when Cuddy shows up and confesses her love for him. He of course throws the pill away and embraces her.
But right before the end, House has a line that’s both simple and profound:
“I am the most screwed up person in the world.”
Cuddy nods affirmingly, saying, "I know. I love you," and then embraces him, full of grace and acceptance.
The temptation of most people watching and indeed the thought that most commentators proclaimed after the show is to say, “No crap, House. How is this relationship ever going to work out!?”
Yet, while most of the things House says and does probably shouldn’t be imitated, I couldn’t help but see a lot of myself in what he said and came to think that most people would be much better off if we viewed ourselves with the same lens he does.
He knows he’s selfish. He knows he has problems. He knows what’s in his heart and mind.
Yet he doesn’t come to Cuddy promising to clean everything up with one tidy sweep of a broom, and he doesn’t try to justify his actions and the mess of a person that he is.
But Cuddy has a role in all of this too. In his worst moment, she’s there, and she doesn’t scold him, preach to him, or make a deal with him that if he cleans himself up, they can be in a relationship. She lovingly and gracefully accepts who he is NOW and promises to walk with him and love him through the process of becoming the man he wants to be and the man she KNOWS he can be.
She loves him into his future.
Sound familiar? It should, because this is at the heart of the Gospel.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)
If we have not entrusted ourselves to the hands of a loving and merciful Father, it makes sense to put on a mask and to try and hide our weaknesses, secrets, scars, and insecurities. With no hope of changing these things in our lives without God and trying to earn the conditional love of the world around us, we’d best cover up our brokenness or we’ll be cast aside.
But with a God who CAN redeem these things in our lives, and whose love IS unconditional, it’s in our best interest to drop the charade and be honest about the junk in our lives.
When we put our faith in Christ, God doesn’t see our mess, but He sees Christ, and He sees the men and women that we will become when we willingly jump up onto the potter’s table and allow Him to shape and mold our defects into something beautiful that only He, a master artist, can create.
He loves us into our future.
So we can go on trying to earn our righteousness, ignoring the hurt we’ve felt, the things we’ve done, and our insecurities and shortcomings – or we can be like House, choosing the route of brokenness and allowing the One who loves us unconditionally into the deepest, most painful areas of our lives. -CK
1 comment:
Wow. How cool is it that the Gospel isn't a TV show or song or movie but that its real, that it actually can, did, and is happening in our lives.
Post a Comment