(posted : Monday May 3, 2010)
Struggles. Sin. Mess ups. Whatever we want to call them, they are the same thing. I am talking about how we all deal with sin on a daily basis. Here is something I don't get: we can talk about sin with unsaved people as we witness to them, but when we get around our fellow believers, we have to put that fake, happy mask on again. "How are you, brother?" "Oh, I am just praising Jesus." This type of phrase is used over and over again in churches and Christian circles all over the country. It's like we have to make everything perfect by the time Sunday School or small group time rolls around. And what about during the invitation time at the end of a service? The altar or steps are strictly forbidden. That is only reserved for the people who are really struggling, and we know that isn't us. Or at least we don't want our friends or even the random stranger sitting near us to know that we are not perfect.
Struggles. Sin. Mess ups. Whatever we want to call them, they are the same thing. I am talking about how we all deal with sin on a daily basis. Here is something I don't get: we can talk about sin with unsaved people as we witness to them, but when we get around our fellow believers, we have to put that fake, happy mask on again. "How are you, brother?" "Oh, I am just praising Jesus." This type of phrase is used over and over again in churches and Christian circles all over the country. It's like we have to make everything perfect by the time Sunday School or small group time rolls around. And what about during the invitation time at the end of a service? The altar or steps are strictly forbidden. That is only reserved for the people who are really struggling, and we know that isn't us. Or at least we don't want our friends or even the random stranger sitting near us to know that we are not perfect.
Hey! Wake up! None of us are perfect! We all go through times of walking so far away from God that we can't even remember what it is like to walk with Him. We all battle daily for our minds to remain pure, for pride to stay out, for jealousy to not enter in. We all deal with it.
I wonder what it would look like if as Christians we could all just actually drop the fake act and be real. I wonder how many more of us would continue growing in our relationship with Jesus. I wonder how many of us would actually not keep giving into the same sin over and over and over again. I wonder how many more lost people would find Jesus.
God never intended for us to be alone. How do I know this? Well, in Genesis 2:18 God said, "It is not good for man to be alone..." Now, we know this was immediately before He created Eve, but do you really think that He was just talking about Adam and just talking about marriage? I don't.
God has always been about relationships. He desires an intimate relationship with every person. He created opposite genders so that we could have meaningful, love/marriage relationships. He designed family, government and the church, all of which have some form of a relationship to you.
God never thought, "Let Me make a gathering where My people can come and pretend all is right in the world, while they are secretly engaged in hideous sin...and I will call it the church and My bride." As ridiculous as that sounds is the same level of ridiculousness that we exhibit when we put on our fake mask.
So how do we combat this? Do we Tweet and Facebook every time we engage in some sin? Well, I guess you could, but I think that may enter the realm of being proud of your sin. Instead, get a small group of people that you can learn from and exhort, and dive into each others lives. Be real, be vulnerable, be loving. Do life-on-life discipleship. Make the desired outcome to be Christ likeness in your life and their lives.
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