Just because someone goes to church does not mean they know Jesus.
Just because someone goes to church and may quote scripture to another does not mean they know Jesus.
To go to church and expect everyone to be outgoing, friendly, and loving is ridiculous.
Yes, Jesus does change people from the inside out but people need to realize that not everyone who professes Christ is a true follower of His ways.
Friends, the best way to look at Church is to look at it like it was a hospital for broken people, from all walks of life.
You would not go to a hospital to find strong healthy people. You expect to find the sick, lame, dying and dead. And so you should also approach church in the same light. Come expecting to meet the people who need Jesus.
Jesus said "come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28
Jesus said to them "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Mark 2:17
If you come to church with the mind that everyone there is on various stages in their very personal quest for that Jesus kind of perfection then maybe your heart will soften towards them. We are all running a marathon race and every single believer in Jesus will stumble at some point.
***REALITY CHECK***
WE ALL HAVE BAD DAYS!
Friends, the commanality in my all my post is the thread of Holiness. Jesus realizes that perfection was hard but He knew we could handle Holiness.
Approaching others with the mind that they too are damaged goods may help deter that spirit of offense that many people stumble on. If your life is focused on WHAT DID GOD REALLY SAY vs Joe Blow is a JERK who goes to church then YOU heap coals of fire on our adversaries heads!
Everyone's walk is different. But if you approach others with the Father Heart of God and in true Jesus kind of love then you truly are His disciple.
Only Jesus is perfect...I am 100% certain that I am far from perfect. I know most of my church friends are far from perfect and to expect them to be perfect is just plain stupid.
Perfection in this life is difficult but Holiness is achievable! The quest for Jesus kind of perfection leads to holiness! If everyone put Jesus's way first all the time and put there flesh in check and actually walked the love walk this world would not be the way it is! We would be in a love filled world! But we are not...DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU! Go against the grain and choose to walk in love even when the world around you hurts you. Choose forgiveness over offense. Choose to see that hurt people are everywhere and expect to see them in church too.
It's not about you...it's about Jesus Christ, the author & finisher of our faith.
