Part Two: No Sloppy Wet Kisses

There are three moments where I can pinpoint when the Holy Spirit had spoken so loudly to me it was nearly audible. Two of those times involved "kisses." The most recent one happened about two-ish weeks ago while reading Beautiful Outlaw. It was late, everyone was asleep, and my nose was jammed in that book. I don't remember the exact page I was on, but something I read clicked, and this melody began playing inside my head:

"And heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss..."

If you know me well, then you know that I'm terrible at remembering lyrics. I am not one to walk around humming or singing. I don't even play the radio very often. I play it in the car but that's about it. Don't get me wrong, I love music. In fact, if I had to pick Sunday sermons over Sunday music, I'd choose the music. Not because the sermons are bad, quite the contrary, I just love, love, love the worship time. To have a song randomly pop into my head is rare. Remembering lyrics is even less likely. While I don't recall what page I was on in that book, I do remember double checking to see if there was anything in the context that would've brought that song to memory. Nope. Nothing.

Except the Holy Spirit.

I knew he was singing it to me. I jumped up and ran for my phone and ear buds. I pulled up YouTube and searched for that song. I listened. Just when that beautiful line was about to fill my ears, I heard this instead:

"And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss..."

Wait. What?

Rewind. Yep, they took it out! Where was my sloppy wet kiss? My heart sank. Why in the world did they replace the lyrics? I searched and searched, until I finally found this. I listened to it four times and wept, grinned, and raised my hands. I looked around to see if anyone had woken up and observed this completely insane momma's antics. I put the song in my "favorites" list. It was surreal. It still is.

Of course, my curious side took over. Why wasn't sloppy wet kiss in David Crowder's version? I knew I'd head it before. After a bit more searching, I stumbled across this. If you don't want to read the entire post, here is the gist. David Crowder chose to remove the original lyrics because he knew that they would be controversial and offensive to thousands of his listeners. Not wanting to lose the heart of the song's message, he changed his version. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not about to slam David Crowder. I am going to slam religious piety. What kind of world do we live in where so many Christians are offended by the thought of heaven meeting earth like a sloppy wet kiss? Are the choir robes squeezing off the blood supply to our hearts? (Do people even still wear choir robes?) Are we so holy and prudish that we are above a public display of affection towards our Savior? Let's unbutton the collar of our choir robes, breathe, and read a couple examples of sloppy wet kisses:

1. Weary from life and work, a man comes home and pats his knees, beckoning his ecstatic dog to his side. The dog wags his loyal tail ferociously, and with gusto, plants a big one on his owner's cheek. Bam! Unconditional love in the form of a sloppy wet kiss.

2. A toddler cautiously takes her first steps. She gurgles and coos as her parents gush over this grand achievement. Toppling through one last step, the toddler eagerly falls into her parents' arms, leans over and pops a sloppy wet kiss on her mother's cheek. This is affection at its finest...uninhibited. 

Free.

Hmm...Perhaps God is offended by all of this out of control affection. Let's kick it back a notch:

1. An owner comes home to his respectful dog, who carefully presses his nose to his owner's cheek.

2. A toddler takes her first steps towards her awaiting parents. After safely arriving in her parents' arms, she leans over, puckers up, and gently pecks her mom's cheek.

People, this has got to stop. This Jesus taming has got to stop. Do you know that his stomach growled when he was hungry? That he belly laughed as a kid? Do you know that he went fishing with a bunch of numbskulls and called them his buddies? He loved so hard and so much that when he'd sneak away for rest he couldn't resist reaching out to those who followed him. He provided wine at a wedding feast (and I am not talking about little plastic cups of Welch's).  He even allowed a prostitute to anoint him! He got really mad and he even cracked jokes.

Jesus, the very one present at Creation, invented sloppy wet kisses! Why do you think puppies and babies are so darn good at them?

Here is my challenge for you. Pray. Ask to see the real Jesus. The one who's eyes twinkle. The one who will literally sing to your heart. Do you know the first part of How He Loves?

"He is jealous for me."

He is so jealous for you that he literally laid his life down to bring you to his side. This is an intimate Savior, friends! This is not a dignified love. This is messy. It's gritty, risky, and desperately compassionate! This is the most beautiful love story of all Creation, and you are invited to the wedding feast...

as the bride!

If you truly listen for his voice, he will answer in the most specific way. It may even be with a kiss.

And who doesn't like to be kissed by their daddy?


"We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are." (Hebrews 4:15)


As always,

Cheering you on & checking the fuel gauge,
Layla

P.S. If you are curious like me, here's a video telling the story behind How He Loves.