Growing in Christ

As I enter into the early fall of my adult ministry life, I have purposed in my heart to try to encourage people to walk in authenticity in their Christian lives, their walk with Christ and with one another in His Church.

Henri Nouwen, once wrote (in the book, "the Genesse Diary"), "He who thinks that he is finished is finished.  How true.  Those who think that they have arrived, have lost their way.  Those who think they have reached their goal, have missed it.  Those who think they are saints, are demons."

I would suggest that true spirituality is for those who don't have life figured out, who don't know the Bible as they could and who don't have their spiritual lives all together (as some people think they do) but are just trying to follow Jesus the best they can.

Please catch on to this today:  Everyone is doing the best they can.

We can't stand (or sit) at any point in our lives from a higher spiritual position or plane and look down on our fellow Christ followers.

So, please catch on to this today:  There is no room for pretending in the spiritual life.

Yet we do.  I see it every Sunday.  Every week in God's Kingdom.

It's an unwritten rule.  Pretend.  Act like God is in control when  you don't believe he is.  Give the impression everything is okay in  your life when it is not.  Pretend you believe when you doubt; hide your imperfections; maintain the image of a perfect marriage with healthy and well-adjusted children when your family is like any other normal dysfunctional family. 

And WHATEVER you do, don't admit that you sin.

People who pretend (as Michael Yaconelli writes) have pretend relationships.

Come on now, my dear friends, the truth is, we are all a mess. None of us is who we appear to be.  We all have secrets.  We all have issues.  We all struggle from time to time.

So, let's be real with one another.  And accept one another.  And love one another.

I leave you with Romans 3:10, "There is no one righteous, not even one".

My righteousness is only found in Jesus Christ.

Just a thought for a Tuesday.