Come as you are
Gospel: Lk 18:8-14
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030924.cfm
If you have ever been interviewed for a job, you have most likely been asked behavioral questions. Behavioral questions ask you to recall experiences and tell stories about how you responded. Here are some examples:
Give me an example of when you had a conflict with someone. How did you handle it?
Tell me about a time you made a mistake and wish you’d handled a situation differently.
Tell me about a time when you failed. How did you handle the situation?
These questions are a challenge to answer. You feel like you have something to lose if you answer the questions wrong or you may expose something about yourself. You try to figure out what they want you to say or the types of examples they are looking for. After an interviewer recently asked me similar questions in succession, I interrupted my own answer midsentence to ask, “You keep asking very similar questions, am I not giving you the answer you want?”
Most candidates rehearse answers to these potential questions. We try to make sure we have the right balance of confidence and humbleness. I even worked for a company that had us count how many times the person used “We” versus “I” language to these questions. It was a way of assessing how individualist or self-centered they were.
During an interview, it is easy to come off like the Pharisee in today’s story. You’re trying to make your best case to get the job. An interviewer once asked me what one of my weaknesses was and I answered, “I feel that I need to be the first one in the office and one of the last ones to leave.” To sound more humble, I explained that I had a hard time going to bed when I was a teenager unless everyone else was asleep. The gospel today called up a lot of these examples. I’m glad people have taken a chance with me!
When it comes to God, we are not being scrutinized by our word choices like we are in an interview. Yes, words are powerful, but our words are also merely symbols. They only point to things. They are only a placeholder for things; they aren’t the thing themselves. When it comes to God, God knows our reality so God doesn’t need all the words. The words we use show more about ourselves than they let God know anything. God already knows! If we aren’t being honest and direct, God knows. God doesn’t need us to justify our actions or talk about how great we are, God already knows. God doesn’t just know, God loves us regardless of our lowest and greatest moments.
God wants to meet us as we are and help us grow. We must be open to it. To be open to it, we must be honest with ourselves and honest in how we approach God. There is no need to sugarcoat or sell yourself to God. God wants you as you are so God can lead you to the fullness of your being.
