A few years ago now there was this church that put up signs all around where I lived with the message “No perfect People Allowed”. I don’t know anything about this church or its religious stance, but I thought that was a pretty great way to advertise. I mean if Jesus came not for the healthy but for the sick, then shouldn’t churches be full of less than perfect people?! And what a comfort to think that you don’t have to have it all together to come to church!
Unfortunately though, more times than not Christians (at least in my point of view) seem to come across as “perfect”. They never seem to struggle with anything, always have a smile on their face, never get sick, never run out of money, always have the right thing to say, always have the right clothes, carry all the right beliefs, have all the right answers, etc. Okay so maybe I’m exaggerating here…maybe I’m overly cynical because I spent years in my Christian walk trying to live up to this “perfect” standard I saw portrayed around me, and yet failed miserably. But if Christians are after all human and not God, why is it that so many Christians put on that “I have it all together, even if I’m falling apart inside” front ….and why is it I feel the need to play along.
This morning I stumbled across a verse in 1 John that truly grabbed my attention and sort of relates to this. “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin”. Now I am no great bible scholar…but I tend to ask lots of questions of Scripture…and immediately after reading this I started thinking how is it that “living in the light” leads to “Fellowship with one another”. I can see how being honest with God would result in that type of relationship with Him….but to one another?!? It seems to me, even in the past few months, when I’ve tried to be honest with where I stand in my faith, the response of people has only made me wish I had never said anything to begin with. And that results in making me want to pull away from the “fellowship” not draw closer to it. So what could this verse possibly mean?!?!
I’ve been thinking about it all day…and the only thing I can come up with is that when we live in the light of Christ we recognize that we are all “sinners saved by grace”….that there’s no dividing line….that there’s no I’m better than anyone else and no others being better than me! We are all in the same boat…all on the same journey. And if we are all in this together...all living under the blood…and all one….then that automatically leads to having a “Fellowship with one another”…and give us the freedom to be real….and the freedom to truly grow. Then again...maybe I'm still trying to digest yesterdays sermon and thus seeing everything through that one set lens. All I know is...I want to live in the light!
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