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I grew up in old-fashioned gospel churches where every service concluded with an altar call, where people often made a public spectacle of themselves by walking to that space between pulpit and pew, between preacher and parishioner, to kneel at the wooden altar occupying that prominent and hallowed place and confess themselves sinners in need of grace.
Some practically ran to the altar. Others gripped the pew before them until their knuckles were white and only by sheer force of will or compulsion by an unseen force tore themselves free to walk, head down and shoulders slumped, to seek mercy, grace, or, as the hymn writer put it, “a sweet relief.”
“Pass me not, oh gentle Savior
Hear my humble cry
While on others Thou art calling
Do not pass me by
I’m calling Savior, Savior
Hear my humble cry
While on others Thou art calling
Do not pass me by
Let me at Thy throne of mercy
I find a sweet relief
Kneeling there in deep contrition
Help my unbelief”
Just As I Am’ was just how it was
Pass Me Not, I Surrender All, I must Tell Jesus, I Need Thee Every Hour, Near The Cross, Softly and Tenderly… These are but a few of the common hymns solemnly sung while sinners wrestled with themselves, Satan, and the Savior, while souls hung in the balance, while Prodigals made their way home, while tearful confessions and heartfelt promises were made, while broken hearts sought solace, while sickened souls sought healing, while damaged relationship sought repair.
The most common altar song, the one sung more than any other, was Just As I am. How those preachers sought to drive home the fact that God was not seeking the whole, but the broken! He was ready and waiting to take you at your worst and give you in return His best. There was no need to polish the rust on one’s soul, no need to clean up one’s act. There was no need to rehab when He stood ready to redeem.
Amen?
Just As I Am was never meant to be a brag
This week, for the umpteenth time in my life, someone said to me, “I don’t pull no punches. I tell it like it is.”
He didn’t literally thump his chest as he said it, but may as well have. It was, as it always seems to be, a self-congratulatory statement, a matter of matter-of-fact, by God pride. He commenced to do just that and in so doing, he pointed out the faults and failures of all of those to whom he answered, their unrealistic expectations, unfair circumstances, and general disconnect from those in the trenches.
He concluded with, “I don’t mean to be no way about it. That’s just the way I am. I tell it like it is.”
Just As I Am is just not enough
The man in question is a good man, a hard worker. He does, however, keep the percentage of those who start with I tell it like it is and proceed to be negative about someone else at 100%.
I know that the phrase that’s just the way I am is almost always meant to be a brag. I believe, however, that it should never be. There is no humility in it. There is almost always a hard edge to it. It is a means of comparing oneself favorably against all – or at least most – comers.
Just stop it.
If just as you are is all you are ever going to be, then lament that. Don’t celebrate it. You are saying you cannot learn anything because you know everything. You are saying you cannot grow because you are all grown up.
When you excuse yourself with that phrase, you are stunting your own growth, limiting your potential, dismissing the possibility that just the way you are is just not where you want to be or ought to be or could be.
Just As I Am God help me!
My Dad used to say, “When I point the finger at you, there are four pointing back at me.”
How often have I excused myself or painted myself as more worthy or honorable or just than another? So often. Too often. If I look at me just as I am, I see a man who has not grown as much as he should have given his time on earth – and especially his time under Jesus influence. If I am honest, I would take just as I am and trade it for just as I wish to be in a heartbeat.
And maybe I can. Maybe, if I return to the hymn of my youth and, in earnest, offer it as my soul’s cry to the Savior of the just as I am, the Redeemer of the just no good, the Sanctify-er of the just not enough, I won’t stay just as I am.
“Just as I am – without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!Just as I am – and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
-O Lamb of God, I come!Just as I am – though toss’d about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
-O Lamb of God, I come!Just as I am – poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
-O Lamb of God, I come!Just as I am – Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
-O Lamb of God, I come!Just as I am – Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
-O Lamb of God, I come!Just as I am – of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove
Here for a season, then above,
-O Lamb of God, I come”
