I don't often 'preach' on my blog.... but today in reading through James during my devotional, I had these thoughts.
-Often times I run into people who dislike Christianity because they have been hurt by Christians or by the Church. This seems to be the number 1 thing people have against getting to know Jesus Christ.
It dawns on me that this makes total sense. For years I have been thinking 'wow, I wish Christians were nicer to people so that we don't give God a bad reputation.'
But now I'm changing my perspective.
-The church is like a hospital. Inside the hospital are people who are sick, but they know they are sick. They come to church because they are seeking something, they seek healing, or a diagnosis. Coming to know Jesus Christ doesn't instantly make us perfect, it makes us people who recognize we're hurt and broken and need healing. We're people in the process of being healed. So of course a wounded person is going to make mistakes. It's hard to be loving when you're still healing from hurt.
Outside the hospital are people who are sick but they haven't been diagnosed nor do they realize it.
If you see the church as a hospital, a place where people come for help and healing. Christ offering the ultimate healing, then you can see the label 'Christian' as 'sick, but being healed.' instead of 'perfect person who always gives God a good reputation'.
I am hoping that seeing a friend who is sick and broken and hurt, find healing is would be a huge testimony to the power of Christ. And that even if during that process we do bark and bite a bit and possibly leave a bad taste in people's lives against Christianity... that in the end, the transformation would give testimony enough.
Still... people are upset at Christians because they do expect us to be perfect.
Which to me is ironic, because it is this lack of perfection that is often used by those who want to discredit the Bible.
"The Bible is inaccurate because man is sinful and flawed." Is the statement I hear most.
Seems like a bit of a double standard.
Either forgive us our hypocrisy because we are flawed, and call our Bible inaccurate, or call our Bible accurate but consider us all hypocrites. It should be one way or the other.
If you get scorned by a boy friend... your tendency is to say 'all men are pigs'. So I understand the reaction 'all Christians are hypocrites'. It isn't necessary logical, but it seems to be a popular point of view.
You see these bumper stickers 'not perfect, just forgiven'. That's great, but Christians are supposed to be striving to be more like Christ. Not simply to be forgiven humans, but to be the best version of ourselves as modeled by Christ and Scripture teachings.
I think I would favor a bumper sticker that read 'not perfect, but forgiven and trying hard'
Anyway. Enough of my preaching.
