Recently I was watching an interesting TV show called 'The Secret Life of an
American Teenager', and during one clip a Christian guy is at this girls house
and she's trying to pressure him into sleeping with her, claiming they can go to
confession afterwards. The boy awkwardly responded "[I'm a protestant], we don't
have confession… We have guilt, shame, regret.. yea we have those."
Ouch. Has the church really become defined by the symptoms of sin rather than by
the grace of a loving Father? I sure hope not. But it is true that we tend to
judge people for their mistakes, struggling to love them because we don't agree
with their lifestyle. Maybe you don't, but I know I sometimes do.
But the reality is that despite our judgment, God's arms are still open wide.
Despite the fact that many churches (not all and certainly not mine) push people
away because of their sin, God still accepts them. Almost like He's more worried
about a person's well-being than about their past sins.
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In the bible, sinners who came to Jesus left pure; forgiven and healed. Whereas
sinners come to church and leave feeling guilty, ashamed or pissed off. Rarely
helped.
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The Fathers Heart is a heart that is consistently full of love. Full of grace.
Full of mercy. In the bible, sinners who came to Jesus left pure; forgiven and
healed. Whereas sinners come to church and leave feeling guilty, ashamed or
pissed off. Rarely helped. For some reason, the church tends to crucify those
who sin, especially when it's a person who's already in the church. But God's
arms are still always open, despite the fact that they may already believe in
Him. And they're always still open wide, in forgiveness and love when they
don't.
The fact of the matter is that I'm a recovering sinner, and so are you. And if
you don't believe me, I want you to google "the pharisaical mindset". We are
called to become more and more Christ like (1 Cor 11:1 - "Follow my example, as
I [Paul] follow the example of Christ") in our actions and thoughts - to be
transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2 - "Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind"); and we need to
realize that is a process! Not an instantaneous action that happens to someone
when they so choose.
More importantly, we need to recognize that if God is showing someone love
despite their mistakes, maybe we should too. If the Fathers Heart is full of
love for the worst of sinners, maybe our hearts should be too.
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