PERFECT CHRISTIANS

Hello! I feel like this post has been just waiting to happen and I am finally getting down to writing it (yay!!)

Recently, I asked a friend of mine to a school cell group, and he declined on the basis that he didn't like somebody who was a part of the cell. 

I'm not blaming him at all. He definitely has his reasons for that, and I'm trying to accept that too. But it did get me thinking. 

Pre-believers always get kind of blergh about Christians, saying we're know-it-alls and holier-than-thou. I think what we don't realise is that as Christians, we do that too.

Somehow, we expect all the other Christians to be perfect examples of what it's like to live in the name of the Lord. And yeah, that's how we all aspire to be, right? But, admittedly, nobody's really there yet. Nobody ever will be!

And come on. Remember all those times we felt far from God and didn't want to live by His rules? We probably would never, ever have come back to Him if there weren't people guiding us and constantly urging us to return! I know that's what happened to me. Without all the prayers and heart-to-hearts and church camps, I don't think I would ever have decided to rededicate my life to Christ.

This is the point I'm trying to drive at (sorry for beating round the bush!). It's not about leaving certain people alone because they're not "mature enough" Christians. If anything, it's about reaching out to them and praying for/with them!

And yes, there's always the concern that we may be misled, that this person's company might cause us to turn away from God. But I'm assuming that if we're reaching out in love, we have the greatest love of all on our side - and that's God. God will tell you if you're going too far out of your way to reach out. He will stop you if you're starting to become more and more of this world.

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. - 2 Timothy 4:2

I thought that verse was pretty cool because it specifically says "in season and out of season". Meaning, God doesn't care if we "aren't ready" or if we don't like the other person or if we're caught off-guard. God just wants us to go out there and be receptive to whatever happens. There's a lesson to be learnt in everything. Just because we're baptized in the name of the Lord doesn't mean we've learnt it all. We've got miles to go. And then some. 

And so does everyone else. So it's kind of up to us to be brave enough to say "okay God, I'm going in". There is no worst case scenario with Christ. 

I'm gonna end off with this verse. It spoke to me earlier today. Kind of told me that God just wants us to fight, fight, fight and He'll make it work. Don't worry about anything, just focus on the mission God's given us!

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:35, 36 NIV)