Christians are Not Perfect

People are so offended by Christians and I get why. Christians preach compassion, peace, and love. They claim that their church is a open sanctuary that invites all types of people but you still feel judged. Having a life outside of church becomes frustratingly difficult as the very people who are supposed to accept you accuse you of drinking, smoking, and exile you because you are a bad guy. They don't even give you a second chance immediately labeling you as that trouble-making sinner. But neither do you. You label them as Christians and suddenly all people who attend church are the same hypocrites that chased you away. We are not, give us a second chance.

Labels are a very dangerous topic. On one hand they make things easier to categorize based on a set of criteria. For instance a weight lifter is generally categorized as someone who in the most basic sense, lifts weights in the gym. Weight lifter is the label and lifting weights is the criteria. On the other hand labels can become skewed when there is misunderstanding in the label and criteria requirements. Let me explain further.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Many of you who are not weight lifters may not get the reference but in the gym world there is a ferocious battle that centers around the holy question, "Do You Even Lift"? Cardio definitely does not count. People who do curls for girls or who skip leg day are also not worthy to be categorized as weight lifters. Crossfit is the topic of major debate because they focus heavily on body weight workouts and do not include bench-pressing but still is frowned on by the traditional weight lifter. After a while you realize, that this argument is completely ridiculous and that all these people lift weights. They all fit the criteria to be labeled as a weight lifter but the person who benches, squats, and rows does not want to be in the same category as a person who only benches. The first person does so much more to earn the title of weight lifter, but the second person gets to earn that same title with minimal effort.

Christians do the same thing. The Christian who attends early morning prayer, comes every Sunday, prays every night and abstains from drinking feels threatened by the so called Christian who stumbles in every other Sunday hungover. How is it fair that both people are called Christians? It is not. But the world does not have time to categorize us as a 'mature Christian' or a 'new Christian' because it does not care, and neither does God. If we still do then we have to let go of our pride because our self-worth should only be determined by ourselves and God, not what others think about us. God will love us whether we are the pastor of a church or a new born drug addict. If we think we deserve His love more than the next person then we do not understand God at all.

For those who are new to the church or the gym do not be intimidated. Both you and the regular member are both in need of exercise. It is so much easier to admit when we are physically out of shape because we must. There is no other option but to accept our physical bodies because there is nothing to hide behind and there is no point denying what others can clearly see. It is infinitely harder to acknowledge we are spiritually out of shape when we hide behind a facade of self-serving bias. We tell ourselves that our drinking is purely social and innocent but when other Christians drink they are engaging in devilish acts. No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, whether we have been exercising for a few weeks or many years, what matters is that we are exercising for one reason. For ourselves. Do not let others distract you from God, just as you would not let an out of shape person in the gym distract you from your own workout. Stop and ask yourself, Do you even Jesus?

_____________________________________________

Christians are not perfect and we never claimed to be. There is so much hypocrisy because what we preach, love, compassion, charity, forgiveness, is not easy to practice and we struggle with it daily. On behalf of all Christians I apologize that we talk the talk but do not always walk the walk. 

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

          Matthew 7:5

SUMMARY:
Judge yourself before you judge others. Walk the walk before you talk the talk. Focus on your own personal growth with God. It is not our job to save others but only God's. If you have found yourself new and hurt by the church then please give God another chance. It is we who hurt you, not God.