Elmer - David McKee

I need to thank one of my lovely friends for putting me onto this book - yes, I'm a terrible parent and never read it to my kids. Here's what happens...

Elmer is a multicoloured elephant amongst a herd of normal coloured ones. He is the life and soul of the herd, making them laugh and joking around but one day gets bored of being different from everyone else and goes off in search of a solution.

It is a story that is being told over and over, particularly today - a classic "be true to whoever you think your true self is, and all will be well" tale. But before you click off this post and think we've lost our minds... bear with us, please!

The story of Elmer and many others like it, address a fundamental human truth and it is this - we desire acceptance. Which sounds a little bit... gospel-ly doesn't it?

But let's get to that in a moment. Elmer doesn't want to be who he was made to be because he thinks other people are laughing at him. He thinks happiness lies in being like everyone else. Obviously the story concludes that he can only be happy as his 'true self'. And he learns to accept that. A not unfamiliar story being told to our children over and over currently. So perhaps it's time we tackled what the Bible says about this... And to do that please permit us, for one week only, to give you TWO Bible truths that answer this fundamental human truth...

Firstly;

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139v13-14

Who we are, with all our quirks and weirdnesses, has been especially designed by God Himself, and He is thrilled with His work. It is God who gives us our personalities, our hair colour, our preferences. He did it before we were even born and everything He makes is wonderful because He cannot make anything less than that. Whatever part of you that you are not happy with, God is delighted in. Otherwise He wouldn't have included it in you. That's not to say we don't mess up what God has given us, or that it's not spoiled by the sin of others, we know this to be true. But fundamentally, when you look in the mirror or hear your booming laugh across a room, God does not cringe. He delights.

You and your child will struggle with God's design - because we think we have a better idea. But God will still stick by His choices for you and them and still think they are wonderful. The individual struggles we have with His design, and the sin that mars it as we live in this fallen world does not change that.

Secondly there is this;

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2v9-10

We only find true fulfilment when we are in Christ. The gospel calls us as we are, without having to make any changes beforehand, to a life with Christ. Trusting Him to pay the price owed for our sin and giving us the glory of heaven with Him. It is the only religion in the world that doesn't not require anything from us. We contribute nothing to the situation. Christ does it all. We are accepted without sprucing ourselves up first. Because the very best version of me it literally dung compared to what is needed to gain God's acceptance into heaven.

The gospel offers acceptance where we are - and then it doesn't leave us there. Once we accept Christ as our saviour we are then, again with no effort of our own, changed to be more like Him. Which means we are free to be who God first made us to be, within the commands of His word. And we now want to be who God made us to be. There is no striving to find true authenticity, no battling to be accepted warts and all, no scrabbling to do enough or earn enough or judged less.

There is a phrase in our house which is uttered often, "Be whoever God made you to be." It was coined to counter the "Be whoever you want to be" mantra that seemed to be creeping into every sticker book and birthday card that entered our house. Both we and our children are bombard with so many options on how life works best. How to figure out the right way, and the path to true happiness.

The Bible tells us that the path to true happiness does not start by walking the path of whatever makes you happy, but starts by walking a different path entirely. The path of whatever makes you happy is incomplete, it requires you to build it as you go. God's path is already built and well worn, tried and tested and found to be good. It is not an easy path. It is frought with hardship and danger and pain, but so are all the other paths on offer because life itself is not easy.

We will all feel that we don't belong at some point in our lives. That we aren't right or accepted. We will feel judged. And it's OK to feel these things. What we do with these feelings is what matters - what path they lead us down.