Ragamuffin 

I watched the movie, “Ragamuffin” and was challenged to the depth of my soul.  The movie is the life story of Rich Mullins.  His brother acts in the movie and was heavily involved in it production.  So I assume it has a high degree of accuracy.  It was nothing liked I expected.  It is not a sugar coated story of a plaster saint.  The film shows Mullins with enormous strengths and enormous weaknesses.  The weaknesses are perhaps highlighted more than his strengths.  Rich was a gifted musician and a prolific song writer.  He wrote “Awesome God”, “Step by Step”, “Sing Praise to the Lord”.  He worked on an Indian reservation, did foreign missions, gave most of his earnings to charities and lived off the average wage in the U.S.!  Yet he had a foul mouth, struggled with drinking, and sometimes came off self-righteous and smug.  

Rich had a broken place in his heart from his relationship with his father.  He struggled with this most of his life.  A measure of healing was found through one on one ministry by Brennan Manning (who also had struggles with alcohol).  

What are we to make of so much grace and so much brokenness in one person?  For one thing it confirms my understanding of human nature.  We are all both image bearers of God yet simultaneously broken by sin in every part of our being.  The image of God shines forth in talents and loving actions.  In those who believe in Christ that image is being restored and will shine brightly at times and in ways.  But that restoration is a work in progress.  The brokenness continues to raise its ugly head as well.  

Every believer will have “Romans 7:16 moments”; “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”   I believe step by step, progressive growth is possible and should be taking place.  But the struggle will continue.  Relapses into sin, selfishness, and even addictions in some cases, will take place.  This is not to excuse sin, but to offer comfort and hope to sinners, like me.  

Mullins accepted the label “Ragamuffin” from Brennan Manning’s “Ragamuffin Gospel”.  I do not endorse everything Manning wrote.  But I embrace the core of his message – we are all Ragamuffins, broken, messy, struggling sinners who at the best are desperately clinging to God’s grace in Christ, aware of our utter inability to save ourselves or perfect ourselves.  We need Jesus!  Because of Jesus God’s children are ferociously loved by Father God because of who Christ is and what Christ did.  If you are trusting in Christ, God dynamically loves you right where you are!  

As one struggling Ragamuffin to another I urge you to open your heart to be radically embraced by the love of God and watch out!  His love will act in your inner being and in your circumstances to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ.   He loves you where you are but He loves you too much to leave you there!