False Perfection or True Fellowship

Excerpt from an email I wrote to a friend:

I wrote a letter to a church years ago while listening to a sermon. (I never delivered it just was expressing what was heavy on my heart that morning) It was just flowing out onto the paper. It was about "Would you love me if you knew where I had been, what I had done.?" But then it went further to where we are most fearful of rejection. It became about "Would you love me if you knew where I am NOW, what I am struggling with now?"  It is difficult to talk about where we have been but immensely more difficult to talk about where we are. There seems to be much more forgiveness for our past than our present. But the present is the only place where we can effect change.


We live in a Christian world of pretense perfection. But honestly, life is messy. We present a package so that it is palatable to those around us. We don't have time for the mess in each others lives so we clean it up and keep our distance hoping no one will notice. (so we can enjoy superficial fellowship with one another)  We even busy ourselves in ministry so that we can keep it above suspicion. This is not to condemn any of us in the church it is just what it has become. But this very reason is why the body is not effective in changing lives. It encourages outward conformation to laws instead of a steady diet of inward transformation that comes from being willing to be open, honest and humble. Being open to correction and self awareness. Being vulnerable and real.

You see, I believe the most mature among us is not looking for our own perfection nor to be thought of that way. With maturity we begin to realize that it is our true WEAKNESS that reveals Christ most.   We have to bring our sin into the light of God's word.  
Quote from Life Today:

"Repent while it is still a secret. Do it (repent) because you heard the call." Then they mentioned that NOT MANY do it this way. They repent only after it has become a public spectacle.

Also from LIFE Today

“If God sheds light on a weed, He’s the only one that can remove it. But it must be removed at the root He’s the only one that can do that!” James