So 'Well Done' Means Raw

RAW. It's how I like my carrots but far from how I like my steak. It's great when it comes to onions but quite awful when it comes to eggs. Some things are just far better raw than when they're cooked. This principle works not only with food, but also with people.

I am drawn to people that are closer to raw than overcooked. I have never been fond of falsehood or pretense. I would rather spend time with an all-out sinner who knows that's where he's at than with a half-baked believer who pretends he's got it all together. I also love to be around those true believers that are earnestly seeking after more of God. So when it comes to people, I guess the "rawness" for me is not about how close you are or are not to Jesus, but how honest you are about where you're at.

I once worked with a girl named Kimberly. She was a tall black woman with long braids in her hair. She had a commanding presence and spoke her mind. One day I asked her why she had bells dangling from the bottom of her floor-length skirt. "To scare the demons away!" was her reply. And so we were catapulted into that misty land of spiritual things. I boldly and lovingly shared my faith with her. She boldly and not-so-lovingly shared that Jesus was a crock and she wouldn't believe in him even if it cost her very soul!

Kimberly was raw.

I had the ...um... pleasure… to spend a little time with a red-headed guy named Russell. He was a self-proclaimed Christian and an arrogant know-it-all. He thought that he had every answer to every question that could ever be asked. He had a head knowledge of the scriptures and could probably quote half the Bible from memory. He was intelligent and he knew it. He was also cocky, pretentious and 'perfect' in his own eyes. Russell was about as overcooked as they come.

Each of us must choose whether to be as raw as a rare steak or as cooked as a burnt one. But we must not confuse being overcooked with being "well-done". Throughout the scriptures we see that the values of the Kingdom include honesty, transparency, authenticity and purity. This is the kind of rawness I'm talking about. We know that Jesus likes His children "well done". But in the Kingdom, "well done" actually means being closer to raw than being overcooked.