Be an Imperfect Christian
“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.” (Isaiah 64:6-8, NLT)
There’s a lot of things we all crave to be in this life. We all want to be successful and feel accomplished. Maybe we even have a small timeline in your heads of where we want to be and when. Even though we do our best to trust in Jesus and in his plan, we also have little hopes and dreams within our minds and hearts. We almost all want to achieve perfection in all these areas of our lives.
But there is one thing I never want to be, and that is the “Perfect Christian”.
Obviously, there is no such thing as a real perfect Christian, but there are many that put on the act that they always have it all together or feel like they always have to be perfect. If we pretend to be this “Perfect Christian” we will never get vulnerable with God, ourselves, and our brothers and sisters in Christ. There is no spiritual growth, just lukewarm-ness dressed in deception.
The truth is, a real and genuine Christian life can be super messy. Some of the most real Christians I know have messy stories and are so honest about all the seasons of their lives. I am not saying you should go around and scream from the rooftops about everything going on with you, but you should confide to trusted people in your life. Be real, genuine, and honest about your journey when you are ministering to other people, and basically just be you!
If God wanted us to be perfect, then He would have made us perfect! But that’s not how it works and I’m thankful to God for that every day. We all want to better ourselves, we all want to learn more and grow closer to God. The key to all of that is being unperfected.
There are 3 things we neglect when we pretend we have it all together: we turn a blind eye to the realness of what is happening to us, we turn our “God volume” off, and we lose who we really are.
All of us know it. Life can hit us with curveballs and situations. And even though circumstantial things do not have power over us, we sometimes choose to ignore what we face. Our culture’s mentality is all about hustling and not letting anything affect you, and that mentality is completely unhealthy. We need to acknowledge that sometimes we are going through it, but even in those moments, we need to know Gods got this.
The only way that we can give God our trust and put our hope in Him is by acknowledging the things we are facing. Take that step as the unperfected you, and give God all your worries. It’s so important to acknowledge rather than ignore and celebrate God’s faithfulness rather than wallow in our circumstances.
When you pretend all is good and perfect around people, you do the same thing with God. He knows that where you are is not even close to perfect, but you ignore His comfort. When you turn a blind eye to your circumstances, your one-on-one time with God withers to the same level of devotion. God is our Father, our Mentor, and our Best Friend. We are called to spend time with him in prayer, worship, and reading. Time with God is like our spiritual food, and without it, we are empty. Shutting out God's voice and counsel in our lives is like breaking away from our lifeline, and all of a sudden, pretending we have it all together gets a lot harder.
Lastly, when we act like we are this “Perfect Christian” we lose our identity and what makes the person we are. In Jesus, we are a new creation but we are also individual. We have our own little quirks, funny attributes, likes, and dislikes. Each of us are one of a kind masterpieces made and loved by the God of the universe. So when we pretend that we are something we are not, we lose sight of who we actually are!
It's so much easier to just be you, and know that God loves you for who you are! Reality is that we are imperfect people, loved and saved by God, doing life by His side and growing each and every day.
If you live this life with an open heart and receive all that God has for you today, I cannot tell you how satisfied you will be. But if you go through life putting on the shallow “I’m a Perfect Christian” act, you will experience and learn nothing that is truly meaningful and fulfilling, and will look for your satisfaction and approval in people rather than Jesus, the only one who can make you whole.
Grow, learn, adventure, be real, be genuine, be humble! Be the imperfect Christian that God purposed you to be! Do not love lightly, care deeply, be a vessel of Jesus, and you will be the best you you can ever be.
Grow, learn, adventure, be real, be genuine, be humble! Be the imperfect Christian that God purposed you to be!
