I struggle.
I struggle with pride. I struggle with arrogance. I struggle with lust. I struggle with envy. I struggle with a lot
I'm a pastor.
Shouldn't I have it all together? Doesn't my job title mean that I'm perfect and no longer in need of grace? Many people wrestle with this very same idea.
When will it end?
Will there come a day when I have it all figured out?
Will I ever be able to kick this addiction?
When did Christianity become about having it all together anyway? Why isn't it ok to not be ok? It seems to me that we are the only people that should understand how broken we truly are. This just isn't how the world views us.
Sometimes I'm sad to say I'm a Christian.
Not because of Jesus, but because of his followers. Hypocrites. That's what they call us. The world sees a bunch of happy plastic faces in our happy plastic places.
I'm sick if it!
Why can't we rise above our own pride and become who we really are, sinners in need of grace. I have a generation of high school students that, on the outside, look like life is going just fine. They sing and raise their hands during worship. They serve whenever they are given the chance. They do whatever they can to look like they have it all together.
But they're dying on the inside.
It has never been ok for them to not be ok. Pretending is their favorite game because it's easy. Shouldn't Jesus be the place for them to find refuge? Shouldn't the church be a sanctuary of peace where they can finally let their guard down?
Why can't church be a place where we walk through the doors and the first thing you get are people who genuinely love you and care about you. What if those people prayed for you if you needed it. What if they cooked meals for you when you couldn't? What if church were a community?
What if the addict could be open?
What if the divorced can find refuge?
What if the broken were fixed and the wounded were healed?
What if it was ok to not be ok?How could you deny Jesus if you walked into the doors of a church and saw a bunch of broken sinners showing others how Jesus healed their wounds. What if we truly loved eachother with a brotherly love that only comes from God? The world wouldn't know what hit them. I truly believe that the church would be an unstoppable force in the world if the believers would stop pretending and actually start being the church to one another.
Too much gossip
Too much plastic
Too much hate
My brothers and sisters. May we become a community of believers that does not put on the happy plastic face. May we be true, open, and honest about our lives and the brokenness we live in. Most importantly may we love Jesus with all our heart, strength, mind, sould, and strength!
May the grace and Peace of Christ be with you
Branden
rode stereo video mic pro
7 years ago
1 comment:
A year and a half ago I went on the men's retreat with our church - I wanted to see what a "man" of God's looked like. At the time I was a Junior in High School and just starting to grow up, but I wanted to know what I was to become. I expected to see great men doing amazing this for Jesus. And I did. But what defined a 'man of God' was something completely different.
On the last night, we all spent time around a campfire. We had rocks (I think) and they were supposed to represent our personal struggles and issues in life. One by one, men walked up to the fire and shared what the rock meant to them in their lives. And by letting it go into the fire they were letting go of their situations and letting God take control of their lives. There were guys struggling with drug addictions, divorces, porn, swearing, etc. You name it, and there was someone struggling with it.
That's when I realized, these were God's men. To be a man for God is to constantly be on your knees realizing that you're not something amazing. To be a man for God is to realize every day how desperately you need God and his grace. It's a state of humility and a reality that we NEED God.
We are a broken species. Switchfoot calls the us "the church of the dropouts, losers, sinners, failures and the fools." Why can't we embrace that? As Peter puts it, "love covers over a multitude of sins." This is the church's purpose, to love and heal. But how are we supposed to heal hidden wounds? You're right Branden, "what if it was okay to be not okay?" then the church might finally be able to do its job
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