Reason #865
Aaron and I prayed about where our church home would be before we got married, and the Lord clearly confirmed in our hearts where He wanted us to plug in. And that's the key. Plugging in. Because you can go to church every week and still feel like a stranger. It can be your church home and yet you can feel unwelcomed. But if you only went home two nights a week, you'd start to feel a little odd around your family. If you only saw them about 50% of the time, you would begin to feel like a stranger, too. And so when we decided that we were going to make FBC our church home, we meant for the long run. We meant we'd go there every Sunday, just like we come home to our own house at the end of each day. And I can tell you that we have been infinitely blessed because we've chosen to be an active part of our church family, of the body, and I look forward to going each week.
No church family is perfect. Our own families aren't perfect, so why would we ever think the church would be? I am a pretty broken church goer, just like everyone else that shows up each week, and even like those who don't, and so the expectation for perfection is unrealistic. If fact, the expectation of perfection for anything is unrealistic. Only God is perfect. His people aren't. And so Aaron and I have shared that with our church friends. They know of our imperfections, and we don't even pretend to have it together. That would be a lot to live up to, and we don't want to be held to such standards. Our pastor reminded us last week that God never called us to be perfect, He called us to be different. And we love the different, completely imperfect, people we worship God with each week.
"Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
We were those things. The church is made up of people who were those things. And, the truth is, the church is made up of people who still struggle with those things. With people who have come through addictions, yet the temptation still exists. With people whose hearts have been broken but the scars still show up. With people who have to daily fight against their flesh because being human isn't easy. We are a group of people who have made some unfortunate mistakes at one point or another. We are people who will still mess up. But, that doesn't define us. That is no longer how God sees us. Because, as the church, we have been cleansed. We have been made right. And as the church, we are to encourage, support, forgive, accept, and love one another as Christ loves us.
Each week, being the imperfect people we are, Aaron and I go to church. We sit with a whole lot of flawed individuals who, like us, are trusting and seeking the Lord for help to live a life that reflects Him. People who are desiring not to be perfect, but just to be different. And when you plug in to a group of people like that, you find that you can do. You can be different. You can all be different together. Because that's what Jesus came to do. To change us, to save us, and to show us there was a different way to do life.
#865 - Because we're called to be different, not perfect.
"And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I am the Lord, who had set them apart to be holy." - Ezekiel 20:12
No church family is perfect. Our own families aren't perfect, so why would we ever think the church would be? I am a pretty broken church goer, just like everyone else that shows up each week, and even like those who don't, and so the expectation for perfection is unrealistic. If fact, the expectation of perfection for anything is unrealistic. Only God is perfect. His people aren't. And so Aaron and I have shared that with our church friends. They know of our imperfections, and we don't even pretend to have it together. That would be a lot to live up to, and we don't want to be held to such standards. Our pastor reminded us last week that God never called us to be perfect, He called us to be different. And we love the different, completely imperfect, people we worship God with each week.
"Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
We were those things. The church is made up of people who were those things. And, the truth is, the church is made up of people who still struggle with those things. With people who have come through addictions, yet the temptation still exists. With people whose hearts have been broken but the scars still show up. With people who have to daily fight against their flesh because being human isn't easy. We are a group of people who have made some unfortunate mistakes at one point or another. We are people who will still mess up. But, that doesn't define us. That is no longer how God sees us. Because, as the church, we have been cleansed. We have been made right. And as the church, we are to encourage, support, forgive, accept, and love one another as Christ loves us.
Each week, being the imperfect people we are, Aaron and I go to church. We sit with a whole lot of flawed individuals who, like us, are trusting and seeking the Lord for help to live a life that reflects Him. People who are desiring not to be perfect, but just to be different. And when you plug in to a group of people like that, you find that you can do. You can be different. You can all be different together. Because that's what Jesus came to do. To change us, to save us, and to show us there was a different way to do life.
#865 - Because we're called to be different, not perfect.
"And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I am the Lord, who had set them apart to be holy." - Ezekiel 20:12