Giving Jesus or Demanding Morals

I was struck by something coming out of my pastor's message last weekend and some reading that I'm currently doing. I was struck by the fact that Christians have the reputation of requiring someone to be morally in agreement before they can come to Jesus.

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It's more than a reputation, really. It's a pretty accurate description. One of the factors that leads to this is our uncomfortable nature with messy spirituality. Take for example a good friend of mine I baptized not too long ago. I've known him for many years, however (like many followers of Christ) he didn't have a crisis point of faith. For him it was a journey of Christ revealing Himself. It wasn't neat and clean and well defined, but it was genuine and sincere.

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We have to have defined lines. You must believe this, this, and this in order to be accepted. Before introducing people to Jesus we introduce people to our sense of morality, or what we think it should be. The thing is, we're called to first introduce them to Jesus...to the love of God and the acceptance of sinners through the sacrifice of Christ...to the freedom from sin and bondage that Jesus brings to us. But instead, we offer them bondage to our senses of morality before introducing them to Christ.

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This speaks heavily to our understanding of the Spirit's work of sanctification. We feel the need to pigeonhole someone into a certain moral standard in our own time frame. Get saved, then get clean. Oh...I love this one...it's a slogan I saw on a church sign: "Catch em', Clean em', Clone em'. Nice and neat process, huh (by the way, I DISDAIN church slogans and cliches...they're utterly unhelpful).

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But this is not the way it works. Does it work for you that way? I have another friend who is a recovering addict. They also deal with a number of other issues. I've told them time after time - just allow God to work on one thing at a time. He'll work with you and deliver you from these addictions. And God has. But it's not been neat and clean and timely. It's been a long process and it's been a difficult one. But God is doing it.

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I say all that to say this: Share Jesus and demonstrate the moral you want others to live. Don't even speak it. Let your good works shine before men so THEN they may see and glorify our Father in heaven.

Celebrate Recovery

Imagine sitting in a small circle confessing the sins of the previous week to a bunch of people you don't know. These aren't just small things either, but these are major issues that you deal with. These are things most people don't know about and if they did they may not talk to you again, or they may not treat you the same anymore. I experienced this a few nights ago at a Celebrate Recovery service.

Celebrate Recovery is a ministry New Hope is looking at getting involved with. It looks to help those struggling with anything from alchohol addictions to sex addictions to self esteem issues. It's a safe place where people come very aware of where they are in life and very honest about their struggles.

The thing that's interesting to me is that this is the mentality Christians in general should hold. If we follow Jesus we first ought to be very aware of our sin and areas of imperfection (Psalm 51...check it out). However this is not even remotely the case nor is it a recognized reality in the church. We're all afraid of people knowing our junk. When I spoke to the gentleman afterward about why they find this type of meeting so helpful it was for this very reason: there was no facade. Facade didn't work there. In fact, I don't believe there's freedom in facade.

Celebrate Recovery comes to grips with the pain. It names it. It's amazing what kind of freedom comes from naming your oppressor. I've known girls who've been abused and raped and their oppressor hangs it over their heads making them afraid. They are fearful to name who wronged them. However, in the cases where the girls muster the courage to do so a weight is lifted. It doesn't solve everything, but it brings the darkness to light and healing can begin.

So I am challenged by this idea of being honest about who we are. What you realize in these meetings is that the people involved don't care what you think about them. They've been to the bottom and realize their need for others and their inability to beat their area(s) of darkness on their own. I wonder how many of us are at the bottom and are afraid to admit it.

A great passage from James 5. It reads, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."