Desperately Seeking Skin Horse Christians
We all know the story of the Velveteen Rabbit. He’s a little stuffed critter given to a boy to love. He’s never really with the boy often, but he’s often loving the boy in an effort to become Real.
In one of the scenes, the Rabbit is hanging out in the nursery, and he has one of those “life changing” moments. The Skin Horse is a very old, well-loved, over-used toy that lives in the nursery. The Skin Horse is kind to all, especially the Rabbit, who often feels insignificant and ignored.
The Rabbit asks the question, “What is Real?”
The Skin Horse gives a beautiful response:
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
He continues:
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
The rest of the story is about the Rabbit’s search to become Real, but I’d really, really like to focus on the Skin Horse and how he taught Rabbit about Real.
I think the Skin Horse is an archetype for all middle-aged and elderly Christians to follow. The Skin Horse focused his existence on serving the child he was given to until the child so loved him he was Real. Then he focused on noticing the Rabbit and being available to answer the Rabbit’s questions and teach the Rabbit.
Middle-aged and elderly Christians should be focused on loving the Lord in His people so that the standard of being a real authentic Christian is modeled for the younger generation. Their service should be so pure and honorable that it could be held as an example in any Sunday sermon. Their knowledge and wisdom based in the Word of God should serve to comfort younger Christians and help younger Christians grow in Christ.
This may mean adopting kids as grandkids. It may mean helping to chaperone a youth event if you’re younger and healthier, or it may mean leading a prayer meeting or Bible study. It may mean stepping up to mentor a struggling parent. It all depends on the Lord’s call on your life.
In my mind, I have this creative license in my head. I see a skit taking place in a church lobby or a prayer room or at the front of a church at the altar.
Rabbit: What does it mean to be an authentic Christian? Does it mean I’m following all the rules and attending all the right meetings and reading all the right books?
Skin Horse: Authentic isn’t about the things you do; it’s about how you are — how you relate to the Lord and His people around you. When you serve Him and them for a very long time, and I do mean serve, not just keeping up appearances and making things look good, then you become authentic.
Rabbit: Does it hurt a lot?
Skin Horse: Sometimes, it is painful — emotionally, spiritually, and physically, but if you’re authentic, you don’t mind the pain because you know you’ll grow spiritually.
Rabbit: Does it happen all at once, like the Big Bang, or does it happen slowly?
Skin Horse: It is a slow change. You become as you grow. This doesn’t happen for certain people, like the ones who expect life to always happen in a certain order or the ones who always need to have their own way or the ones who expect the world owes it to them to take care of them. Generally, by the time you’re authentic, you’ve experienced a bit of humiliation to learn true humility, you may have lost some friends or personal connections because of the stands the Lord asks you to take, and you’re quieter than others because you’ve learned that your heart is deceitful and you want all your motives pure before the Lord. You hunger for His will. But at the end, all these hurts and pains don’t matter because the Lord has led you to authenticity; your sins and the sins of others are seen as minimal and to be covered by love, except by those who don’t understand the vastness of God’s grace and how truly undeserved it is.
Rabbit: I think you’re authentic. Am I right?
Skin Horse: Yes, child, I became authentic a while back. The Lord led me to it as I was parenting, and I’ve never wanted to go back. Once you taste authenticity, you never want to give it up.
