The Post That Started My Confessions

Somewhere along the way we Christians have gotten the idea in our heads that we are supposed to be perfect followers of Christ who have turned from sin, never to err again. Church is a place to go and flaunt our 'sainthood.' All true Christians have perfect marriages, perfect children, and they certainly never ever sin.

I don't know about you but in a church full of perfect Christians I sure feel like a failure. I tend to paste on my phony plastic smile and try to blend in. No wonder we are a bunch of phony plastic Christians (Great song by Casting Crowns by the way, I am a MAJOR fan!) I sure don't want to be the one bad apple who sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of perfection. Seriously-why is it that I can't get my Christian act together anyways?

For years now I have been searching my Bible trying to figure out what the missing 'secret ingredient' to Christianity was. If I could just find that elusive missing link I could stop struggling with temptation, loving my enemies would be easy, I would be instantly transformed into a loving, respectful wife who never spoke a word in contradiction to my husband. I could finally achieve 'sainthood' and fit in at church. Want to know what I learned? Prepare yourself, this is earth shattering... Church is not a "country club" for perfect Christians-in fact there is no such thing as a perfect Christian! At least not this side of heaven. The greatest Christian (that I can think of) who ever lived was just like me! You know who Paul is right? I know what you're thinking, "Come on he wrote 1/2 the new testament, you can't be serious!" I am, he of all people confessed to be the chief of sinners (1 timothy 1:5). If he is chief of sinners where exactly does that leave me? I'll be the first to admit it certainly isn't in the Christian hall of fame!

As if that isn't earth shattering enough guess what else I learned. It's okay to not be perfect and that is why we go to church in the first place! Church is a place to share our struggles, to admit our failures, our weaknesses and our faults. Newsflash: All Christians are sinners! We're just forgiven; and, not just once, on a daily basis, hourly if needed. (In my case it is a by the minute thing.)

No wonder Christians have trouble relating to lost people and can't seem to effectively share their faith. What sinner wants to be bashed by a self-righteous Christian blind to their own personal sin? We focus on pointing out every tiny fault our neighbor has, meanwhile ignoring the (usually BIG) sin in our own lives. Even though the Bible specifically warns us not to do this! (Luke 6:42) The "I'm a better Christian than you" mentality is an easy trap to fall into. I don't know about you, but it sure makes me feel better when I can look across the aisle and see so & so who according to the rumor mill is obviously in a much worse spiritual condition than myself. The problem with such logic is that God doesn't ask us to do better than our neighbor-He calls us to be Christlike. Furthermore, my falling short just a little is essentially equal to missing the mark entirely. (James 2:10) So I'm thinking "Wait, my little sin is no better than that guys BIG sin?" Ouch! I'm in trouble. I don't know about you, but that is a serious one, two punch I can't avoid!

So what's a sinner to do? Confess you've messed up! The more public the better. Tell your husband, friend, mother, whoever you are close to. You can even (stay with me here) confess in front of the congregation at church *gasp!* I know its a foreign idea in a lot of churches these days, but try your best and hang with me here. I think confession is good for the soul and that is why I am starting this blog. Maybe if I can be transparent enough to share my own struggles with sin it will help other Christians realize its okay if they aren't perfect. Even better maybe together we can learn to help each other through our struggles considering this is how God originally intended the body of Christ to function in the first place! The way I see it, the fact that we're never going to achieve sainthood before heaven proves we should all drop the charade. Whats the point in continuing to hide our faults? We're not really fooling anyone anyway. Lets choose to share and help one another. We certainly aren't effectively reaching a lost world by lying and pretending to be better than everyone else.

Just remember, life on any level is tough. Taking a stand to live for Jesus is even harder and you're not going to be perfect at it! (And that is okay - just work on it every day!) Stop hiding Jesus behind your phony perfection. If we can learn to be honest and transparent enough people will be able to see Jesus in you, and that my friends is what its all about.