Tuesday, September 8, 2015

"Better get right with the Lord", wait, what?

I am a Christian. I love Jesus. People think these are the endtimes... and maybe, they are. But over the last few weeks I have seen several people in my facebook feed say "Better get right with the Lord". I realize this is an effort to promote the Kingdom and right living... but I feel like it's doing more harm than good for His Kingdom.

You see we are already Holy and Blameless because we are God's Children. As a follower of Jesus Christ I'm already viewed, flawless and perfect in God's eyes. This isn't a free pass to live my life any old way I want. I think we are always on the pursuit of Righteousness and to be evermore like Jesus. And when we have real relationship with him that's what we want to do, it isn't work! But I read this a couple times and I started thinking "Oh, Crap! am I right with the Lord?"

There are so many "Christians" that have a hard time with their spiritual walk because they feel they have to be perfect in order to pursue God. I think this "better get right with the Lord" statement perpetuates that thinking. I'm never going to be good enough, I'm never going to live my life perfectly. If I could do that, I wouldn't need Jesus. I'm never going to be a "model Christian" at least to those that know me best. But here is the GOOD NEWS, I don't have to be! Christ died for my sins, the ugly, the angry, the impatient, all of it! It doesn't mean I live my life just doing those things because Christ died for me to do it, because He didn't. It's not a free pass, He died to forgive me. And he will but I have to have a repentant heart, and that comes from saying "Look, I messed up, but I don't want to live in that place anymore, I don't want to be that person anymore! I want to be better! Help me to be better!" You see the attitude is that the sin is still yucky in my life, even though God sees me as perfect.

I also think that saying to someone "you better get right with God" implies you have it all together. We all have junk. Sometimes our junk is just not as apparent as others. And pointing someone else's junk out is hurting our witness. Be who you want your friends to be in Christ. Quit accusing others and just work on you. Then God will work on their heart by seeing your example. (Probers 27:17). And I think there's that whole planks and specks thing. (Matthew 7:1-5) Just sayin. 

I can't "get right with God" in one moment. It's a process. No one is EVER right with God in the sense that we aren't going to mess up, but as a Christian we are Right with God. When we accept Jesus that's all that God sees, the Jesus in us.