Today we’re gonna talk about getting dirty.  Down and dirty, to be honest.  And while I can’t even imagine what mental images just popped into your head, I’m going to go ahead and say….I promise it’s not what you think.

I’m talking about dirty love.  You know…the kind of love that allows you to kiss stinky toddler toes, willingly eat food that a grimy-handed baby shoves in your mouth, or hug on the homeless man who grins at you each day.  This is dirty love, and it’s something we all long for.

In fact, I know of some amazing “dirty lovers”.

Those of you who know Catherine know that she is a little…um, how shall we say… “clean and neat.”  Okay…so she’s a full-blown germ-a-phobe complete with a hip holster for her hand sanitizer.  And yet, she loves dirty.  Like REAL dirty.   One of my favorite stories Catherine tells is of the time she was in India working in a children’s orphanage and encountered a little girl who wanted to put her hands on her face, touch her, tackle her. And it forced Catherine to move past herself to accept this expression of love….unwashed hands, feces-stained clothing, muddy and barefoot….I think the picture completes the story for you better than I could.

[caption id="attachment_1258" align="alignnone" width="398"] Bangalore, India[/caption]

That’s downright dirty love, folks.

I think about my sister, Flo, and her family who are currently finishing up a year in Uganda working with the 60 Feet organization and the children’s prisons (www.sixtyfeet.org).  She is literally getting red-dirt dirty each and every day living in Kampala, loving on orphaned babies, raising her own children, homeschooling them, and doing HARD work.  She left all the comforts and conveniences of America for harder everything.  And she loves it.  Dirt and all.

[caption id="attachment_1259" align="alignnone" width="614"] Kampala, Uganda[/caption]

I also think about my friends, Emily and Brett Mills, who head up the Jesus Said Love ministry here in Waco (www.JesusSaidLove.com).  They get the dirty love concept…the literal and figurative meaning of it…all too well.  JSL ministers to women in the adult entertainment industry…strip clubs, to be exact.  Their relationship-focused approach means that they are in the dressing rooms on Friday nights…bearing gifts, bringing food, laughing and loving on these women before they go to work.  It’s downright dirty love, and I’m kind of obsessed with the JSL team because of it.

My list of dirty lovers could go on, but I think you get the point.   Love can get really dirty…in a good way.

REFIT® has its own version of dirty love, too.

The experience of traveling across the U.S. and training REFIT® Instructors is truly the most amazing perk of my “job”.  One of my favorite parts of the training is our segment on “standing at the intersection of faith and culture.”  We talk about the idea of being in the world but not of it…an idea that is embraced by the Christian community but often poorly executed. Navigating the intersection of faith and culture is rarely easy, often interesting…and at times downright dirty.   There are various aspects of culture that are so far out of my comfort zone…media, technology, trending topics on twitter, movies, books, music…that I want to lock myself in a padded room.  But that would be weird.

Here’s the deal:  REFIT is an “outreach focused” fitness program; meaning we intentionally pursue relationships with people of all values, beliefs and backgrounds.  These intentional relationships require me to know about things that are relevant in their world…things that resonate with them… and sometimes these relationships can get a little dirty.  As much as I want to take offense by the music choices, clothing, or even the words that represent their culture…I’m not.  And the reason why is because my culture, my “world”, looked a lot like theirs not too long ago.

Back in the day before I really knew who Jesus was (I knew of Him, but didn’t know Him….make sense?) I was deep in the trenches of culture.  My life, my interests, my actions, my words….might have hinted at Jesus, but definitely didn’t point to Him.  I was blessed to have some dirty lovers of my own who pursued me, connected with me, sojourned with me, and LOVED me in ways that resulted in a deep unearthing, purification, and refinement of the “me” that stands before you today.

Folks, there is a call to action on the Christian community to LOVE DIRTY.   Love that is based on willingness to get dirty, challenge comfort zones, and lay aside differences.  Love that isn’t based on performance, material for your next Instagram post or life group “share time”.  Let’s all purpose to lay down our sanitized expectations, judgments and opinions in pursuit of opportunities to experience a raw, unedited, limitless DIRTY LOVE.  Deal?

And I think this goes without saying, but just in case I have some literal readers out there….here’s a disclaimer:  I’m not insinuating that the lost, the looking or the culture-lovers are “dirty” vs Christians who are “clean.”  Let’s not go there, okay?  I am saying that “clean love” is often safe and unchallenging (although still necessary and relevant)…and my call to action is to get dirty by loving in revolutionary ways.

When Jesus saw the dirt of my life, He didn’t tell me to go wash myself off.  He picked me up and carried me to the water.

Now go love dirty, people.  That’s an order.