Having been in church most of my life, I know a lot of "church" people. I've been lucky though, because I've been able to have a wide array of experience in my life and part of that is knowing a lot of people who aren't "church" people. It's amazing what people not in church think about church folk...most of it due to experience with a "church" folk who has somehow become representative for everyone.
From my experience, I thought I'd dish on some church folk and some common thoughts about them that ARE and AREN'T true.
MYTH #1: Church people have it all worked out perfect with perfect lives (or they act like they do, but secretly, they don't). It's funny that this is a common theme among folks. Honestly, I've seen evidence to back the parenthetical part of this statement on more than one occasion, but a greater understanding of this myth let's you know it's not true. I'll show you why it's ironically comical that this is a rep for people in church.
One...I've never met anyone on the Earth, that,in their right mind, in a totally honest moment, that thinks they are perfect...in the church or out. I'm not sure that person exists. I've seen arrogant people before, but usually, in my experience, that's really just subconscious/conscious overcompensation for weaknesses that they are really trying to hide or have yet to admit.
Two, one of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity is that in the same way, ALL of us are imperfect and have NO chance to achieve it on our own. The very fact that anyone walks into church and/or enters into a relationship with Christ is admitting that you are NOT perfect...that you are flawed.
This sparks a couple of other questions:
Why do some of them "act" like they are perfect?
- The easy answer is because they aren't. Acting like you are, like anyone on the planet, is proof that you aren't perfect, because no one is.
Another reason is ignorance. Some people still haven't learned what it means to admit your imperfections. It means that you are always 100% flawed, but you are always trying to connect with a perfect God. While God is moving us toward being complete or perfect one day, that's not done the moment you decide to follow Christ...some folks don't know what to do with that.
Another reason is insecurity. It's not easy to admit your weaknesses to others, even though that's what the Bible asks us to do. Some people mistakenly think that acting more "disgusted" or "appalled" at the acts that sin comes out as in a person's life, somehow makes them seem to be more right with God. All that does is cause people to be moreActually, insecurity is fueled by pride. We all want to look like we know what's going on and, true to form with our condition, we aren't...it causes some problems.
Another reason is misguided expectations. Some people actually believe that when they enter a relationship with Christ that somewhere, somehow, they'll achieve this (pardon the expression) "Zen-like state" where nothing bothers them, nothing ever goes wrong, they never do anything wrong or make a mistake again and the sin nature that's part of of every person on the planet just goes away. Not true. Following Jesus' path is a way to deal with the effects of sin and because of Jesus' leadership and strength, we can have the power, the understanding and the awareness to choose a choice that isn't controlled by sin in our life, but to think that we will never struggle again is foolish. For me, as I've grown in Christ and learned more about Him, I've actually found MORE things that I need Christ for, rather than less, and that's exactly how it's supposed to go as we grow in Him.
Another reason is that there is an enemy who wants us to fail. The Bible tells us the Devil is alive and well and is trying to get us to be stupid and hurt others...like we aren't capable of doing it on our own because of our own problems. He helps confuse people into thinking that if you are a Christ follower, then you hate sin, then you have to be perfect and hate people who aren't and then if you aren't a Christ follower, then you can't be one because you sin...it's flawed logic, but it's amazing how many people buy into it.
Basically in a nutshell, here's a Christian...an imperfect person who is resigning himself/herself to the fact that they can't make it on their own, but realizes that there really is a solution to making it through life and they've found Him. His name is Jesus. Now, they are trying to learn to live in that situation.
There's a great song by Natalie Grant that says this and it kind of sums up this topic. "There's no such thing as perfect people, there's no such thing as a perfect life, so come as you are, broken and scarred, lift up your heart and be amazed...and be changed by a perfect God." The truth is that you've got to learn to exhibit grace to others, just as you receive it yourselves and that's how God planned for it to be.
This week, I'm going to try to deal with a few more dish on church folks subjects...hope this helps non-church folk understand church folk or maybe even, church folk understand themselves a little better.
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