Not perfect

I'm not perfect, but most of the time I feel like I need to be. Sometimes I feel that in order to be a true follower of Christ, I. have. to. be. perfect.

But here's the thing. God never asked me to be perfect. He said, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." The problem is that I often get "holy" and "perfect" mixed up. Being holy like God is holy means turning away from sin. It means having thoughts, actions and attitudes that are pleasing to God. It's different than my convoluted version of "perfect". The Bible tells us what God considers sin. It tells us what is pleasing to Him and what isn't. But I add a lot of stuff to that. My version of perfect includes a lot of stuff that God never said anything about in the Bible.

Some days I get so busy trying to be "perfect" that I forget that I don't have to be. I need to be holy. I don't need to be "perfect". And it's hard to focus on being holy when you're all caught up in being "perfect".

Sometimes I cry.

Sometimes I forget things.

Sometimes I burn dinner.

Sometimes I don't get up when my alarm goes off.

I'm not good at math.

I can't play the piano to save my life.

I hate playing sports.

My courtship wasn't like the books.

Sometimes I laugh too loud.

Sometimes I accidentally say awkward things.

Sometimes I don't cook things from scratch.

I have a hard time sitting still for long periods of time.

Sometimes I disagree with people I respect.

Sometimes I'm late.

But you know what? It's ok not to be "perfect".

Do you like Jesus?

"I am not ashamed of being a Christian. Jesus said, "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven." Sadly, 95% of Christians who read this will be too afraid to repost. Copy and paste this to your status if you aren't ashamed of Jesus."

Oh boy...........where to start? We've all seen stuff like this on facebook. That status that has some cliche little saying at the beginning and then tries to put a big guilt trip on you by saying that you must not love Jesus, must be ashamed of being a Christian, must be too afraid, etc. if you don't repost.

The ones that get me the worst are those that include Matthew 10:32&33 and imply that somehow if you don't repost, you are denying Jesus. Please just humor me for a minute and think about what those verses are really talking about.

When Jesus talked about not denying him before men, he was talking to his disciples. He was not talking to a group of people who really needed to go home and "like" Jesus on facebook, He was talking to a group of people who were going to stand before some of the highest authorities of their day and be called to give an account of their faith in Christ. He was talking to men who, within just a few years, would have to choose between denying Jesus and imprisonment, torture and death. These were words that He spoke to them as He was preparing to send them out into the world to preach the Gospel. I don't know how we can take these powerful words of Jesus and cheapen them to mean, "If you don't repost this cheesy facebook status, you're denying Jesus."

If you are a follower of Christ, there should be no doubt in anybody's mind that you are not ashamed of Jesus, whether you repost that status or not! Living for Jesus is so much more than "liking" Him on facebook! C.T. Studd never reposted that status, would you say that he was ashamed of Christ? Corrie Ten Boom never "liked" Jesus, was she afraid to let people know that she loved Him?

I'm not ashamed of Jesus, what I'm ashamed of is this namby-pamby, impotent version of Christianity who's greatest accomplishment is "liking" Jesus on facebook!

I'm not saying that you can't have a witness on facebook, because you definitely can! In fact, if you are a follower of Christ, and you have a facebook account, use it in every way you can to promote the glory of Christ! What I'm saying is that if the only way that people can tell that you aren't ashamed Christ is by the fact that you repost those statuses, there is a problem.

This is the point- It doesn't matter whether or not you "like" Jesus on facebook. It doesn't matter whether or not you repost a status about how much you love Jesus. What matters is how you live it out in your life.