A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of officiating a wedding for an amazing couple. 

The wedding was beautiful – a powerful witness to the biblical testimony that we love because God first loved us.  The bride and groom are deeply committed followers of Jesus and the ceremony reflected their commitment not just to each other, but to Christ and His mission.  The reception was full of laughter and love, delight and desserts.  It truly was an incredible night.

But there was one problem – the floor of the reception hall was beginning to come apart. 

At first, I thought this was a localized issue.  Perhaps in that one area the adhesive had failed or been insufficiently applied.  However, once I felt this in one spot, I noticed it everywhere.  Everywhere I went I could feel the flooring pulling away from the foundation. 

Considering the overwhelming joy and delight filling the space, I decided to not say anything.  It didn’t seem right to bother anyone else with something that clearly could not be fixed at that moment. 

Not to mention the fact that the folks on the dance floor didn’t seem to mind. 

Honestly, this should have been the first clue that somehow I was mistaken – no one, absolutely no one, seemed fazed, bothered, or to have even noticed this flooring issue.  The second clue, the one that finally led me to the truth, was the fact that only one of my feet seemed to detect the issue. 

That’s when it hit me: there was nothing wrong with the floor. 

It wasn’t the floor that was coming apart – it was my shoe.

At some point during the festivities (thankfully after the ceremony itself) the bottom of my shoe began to separate from the sole.  This separation caused each step to feel hollow, as if the floor was pulling away from the foundation. 

Thankfully, I discovered this before I said anything to anyone at the venue! 

This experience reminded me of two important realities:

First, if your experience of life is that everyone and everything else is wrong, you might want to consider the possibility that you might be the real issue.  If everything is negative, if everything is sour, if everything is bitter, if everything you see and taste and touch and experience is seen through a lens of insufficiency, maybe it’s you – your lens – that’s off. 

If everything everywhere is negative, check your lens.  No wonder the Bible teaches, “brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

The second reminder takes the first reminder and follows it to a deeper, more personal place. 

The separation of my shoe from its sole caused every step I took to feel like a misstep. 

But here’s the thing, something felt off because something was off. 

I wasn’t wrong about something being wrong.  I was wrong about my conclusions, not my convictions.  Something was wrong, but it was more with me, in me, than it was 'out there’. 

In so many ways, this is the message of Jesus. 

Jesus continually moved his audience inward, not because there aren’t problems and work to do in the world, but because healing moves from the inside out. From the heart, Jesus said, “come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person.” (Matthew 15:19-20)

Jesus wasn’t denying the reality of evil, sin, brokenness, and oppression in the world.  Jesus wasn’t pretending as if there aren’t places where the floors of this world have separated from their foundations.  What Jesus did was help us see that wherever those realities are, they started here – in the heart of someone somewhere.

Rather than simply addressing the symptoms of our condition, Jesus seeks to heal the source of our condition by healing our hearts and becoming the bridge between ourselves and God. The separation we feel between our souls and their Source, the separation that makes everything feel off, no longer has to be the way things are.

If everything everywhere feels wrong, feels off…

If the lens by which you see the world is constantly bent towards the negative… 

If you find yourself bitter and angry and concluding that the problem is with everyone but you…

Is it possible that you are right about your conviction, but wrong in your conclusion?  Is it possible that there is an inner healing that needs to happen in you? 

Thanks be to God that this is precisely what Jesus came to do.  “I have come” Jesus said, “that they might have life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)

So, may you find healing and hope in Jesus Christ our Lord.  May the bitterness you feel, that bent towards the negative, be overwhelmed by the goodness of God.  May any feelings of separation and alienation be undone by the reconciling power of God’s Spirit and may you know true wholeness in name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – amen.