The Perfect Standard

There's a problem within our society. There's a misconception among Christians that needs to be corrected. There's a lie that we easily believe without questions that needs to be addressed. What is this lie?

Christians must be perfect.

Perfect? Since when do "Christians" have to be perfect? There is not place in the Bible that gives reference to any person having it all together and being the "perfect" example. To think that we must reach the standard of perfection is a lie and it's the reason we get so easily frustrated in our relationship with God.

So where does this standard come from? It comes from within ourselves. We compare ourselves to so-called "perfect Christians" who seem to have it all together when in reality they are as screwed up as we are.They aren't perfect but we have it in our minds that they are. We see what they do and see that as the bar we set for ourselves - the point we need to reach. Truth is, there is no perfect being because the only perfect man to ever walk this Earth is Jesus. We are all valueless without him and if you think otherwise, you deceive yourself - something I previously stated in my last blog "what are you living for". 

We think we have to have it all together before God will use us. We see others whose lives ooze godliness so we instantly feel guilty because we aren't like that. In fact, we're not even close to that. I'm definitely not even close to that. I can't compare to those other seemingly-perfect, "I've got this Jesus stuff figured out" type people. I'm a screw up on multiple occasions. I struggle with the battle between loving the world and loving God. I try to be a good Christian, but when it comes down to it I'm just trying to be moralistic to fit in with my "Christian" friends and to win favor in God's eyes. I feel like I'm climbing this ladder of morals to reach the standard that's been set but the top seems so hard and far away that all I do is just get frustrated and give up.  
"I can't meet that standard! I can't be like those Christians. They get it, understand it, and have it all together. I don't!"

So instead of being real about who I am, I try to impress others with my godly goodness. If they're going to like me, I got to be on the same level as them. You guys, being moral does not make you a better Christian. If that were so, then God sent his son in vain.Your works will not save you. Only God can save you. There is nothing we can do to gain God's love, mercy, or grace. We just have to believe it and accept it.

Under the standard of perfection, we are rot with the idea that Christians don't sin. If they sin, they don't love God. If we are not morally right, God will not forgive us. We need to be perfect so that means we can't struggle with anything or have deep underlining issues we're too afraid to expose.... Wow. How unfortunate for us to believe this. When we believe this, we put on a facade so that we appear to have it all together.We mask up what's on the inside and it'll eventually tear us apart. Plus, it gives non believers a false sense of Christianity. We put the thought in their mind that having a relationship with God is easy and that we don't struggle and nothing bad ever happens to us anymore. When we aren't real about our struggles, new believers are in for a surprise when they realize it's not all ice cream and roses with God. Yeah, actually, it is going to be tough. "In this world you will have troubles but take heart for I have overcome the world" John 16:33. Let's get real. We all struggle, we all sin, we all are imperfect  We can not set standards of perfect Christianity because there is no such thing as a perfect christian. 

The Bible did not tell us to be perfect. There are only two things we are called to do:

1. Love God

2. Love others

That's it. He didn't say "get your act together and be perfect so I can send you out to love others". That never happened in the Bible. Think about the story of Rahab. She was a prostitute but God used her to serve other people (Joshua 2:1-16). Who says you have to be perfect to start helping people? He just said to GO.

No characters in the Bible were perfect. Even the ones who seemed that way.

David committed adultry and killed a man (2nd Samuel 11) 

Peter denied Jesus 3 times (Matthew 26) 

In a Mark Driscoll sermon, he spoke about how in 1 Peter 3, we are to be like Sarah. Why Sarah? She was not perfect at all. She followed an unwise husband and gave bad advice. She made poor choices. But Driscoll then stated that even though she was not perfect, God used her. And by grace she was able to learn and grow. She continued to pursue God.

You guys, we can't be perfect. We can't measure up to the world's standards of godliness. That would just be moralistic and religious. We need to pursue a relationship with God. Like Sarah we are imperfect humans who are going to mess up all the time. What matters is where your heart is. Do you continue to pursue God? Are you growing and learning from your experiences? "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4. 

We follow a man who loved others and truly got to know their emotions and issues. That's what we are called to do. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Luke 6:31. You would want someone to notice you, care about you, show you love in the form of words and actions, hang out with you, speak kindly to you, hug you, get lunch with you, be there for you, and be your friend. You don't need to be perfect to follow that call in our lives. We can't set ourselves up for failure. Trying to reach an unreachable standard is like flying to the moon in your car. Ridiculous, frustrating, draining, and useless.

Learn. Grow. Pursue. Love God. Love Others. That is our standard. 

What Are Your Living For?

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels, nor the Son, but only the Father". - Mark 13:32

He could come back today. Or tomorrow. He could come back as I'm writing this or when you are reading this. Nobody knows when Jesus will return. Given the recent evidence that his return will be SOON (increase in natural disasters, Israel reinstated, the whole world knows about God), I think we should be living in light of this truth. He will come "like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). It will be unexpected, not delayed, and without warning.

Why isn't there a sense of urgency in us??


Think about it. Jesus is going to return and it could be at any time. We need to be living in light of this. If we renewed our minds to think in these terms, I feel it could drastically change your life! This truth has been getting nailed into my head for a while now and it's starting to sink in. My mind is completely changed in many ways.

Each day is a gift. Do you think about it like that? You are nothing special that you deserve to wake up every day. You are worthless without God and have no reason to be here on this Earth. "If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself" Galations 6:3. Don't you think we owe God for graciously allowing us to live on this Earth and and don't you think we owe it to him to enjoy this time we have? There's a reason we're still here. There's no better time then now to start truly living.

Live each day is if it was your last. Because it really could be! "For you were once in darkness, but now you are in the light of the Lord. Live as children of the light" Ephesians 5:8. I am so completely guilty of this. I always think "i'll talk to that person tomorrow. I'll deal with that tomorrow. I'll finish that paper tomorrow. I'll fix my relationship with God tomorrow". Nooo. Not tomorrow!.God is pleading with us to do his will and follow his commands NOW so that when he returns we will be found blameless in his sight! So on judgement day, either when Jesus returns or if we die before then, Jesus will be able to look at God and say "I've already paid the price of this one. He/she is my brother/sister". And God won't have to condemn you or look on you with judgement. Your bill has been paid. Live in that truth! "Abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming" 1 John 2:28.

What would you do if you knew today was your last day? Think about this. Remember the last day of high school? Being single before you got married? Living in your hometown? At camp? With your loved one before he/she left? What did you do with your last day?? All of you are going to say you made the most of it in some way! On my last day of college at MNU, I refused to let anything get to me, I made sure I enjoyed life and fellowship with my friends, hugged and laughed, didn't let anything go unsaid, and truly soaked in each moment because I knew it was my last. I wanted to end on a good note and to leave a legacy. I wanted people to remember me in a good light, not for the mistakes I made. I chose to throw aside everything that hindered me from fully living it up on my last day.

Guys...this is how you should live every day.

Nothing else matters. Nothing. I don't care what you say. Everything you do, if it's not glorifying God, is worthless. It's pointless. There is no other reason to live. Do no labor in vain. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" Colossians 3:23. I'm editor-in-chief of my university's magazine. I spend hours upon hours working for that. One day it dawned on me that my work was pointless. What was I doing it for? Sure, it will look good on a resume and I get great experience from it. But then what? Once I land a job, that resume is useless. It doesn't matter anymore.

What I do, if it's not bringing glory to god, is worthless.

I'm not saying to stop doing everything you do if it's not for God. We do still have to survive in this world. We need necessities like jobs and God knows that. But we do need to recognize that what we do on this Earth will soon perish. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not a guarantee. All the clothes we buy, the money we save up, the houses we live in, the resumes we build, the hobbies we take part in, the sports we play, your reputation...they don't matter. In the end, the end that's coming soon, Jesus is all that matters.

You guys, I am so guilty of this. That's why it is being pounded into my head. I live for the world and what I can gain from it. I live to impress others and see how far I can get in life. I want to be famous and known and do something great.  I'm prone to vanity, pride, lust, greed, and debauchery. Satan's temptation intices me and comes at me hard just like anyone else. He messes with my brain and distorts my vision - taking my focus away from God. From the only reason I'm here.

I am a mess without God and I know now that everything is meaningless, worthless, pointless. Nothing on this Earth matters. Honestly, I feel heartbroken for those of you who don't know Jesus. With all the disgusting, painful, garbage in this world, how could you possibly make it through? How could you live a life in vain? How could you not think "there has to be more to life than this?!" I know it's hard, but at least I can call on Jesus for help. What do they do?

My final thought for you is this. There's no denying it, guys. Jesus is going to return at any moment. Where will you be when it happens? What will Jesus see you doing? Having sex? Getting drunk and high? Living for yourself? Or will he see you living for him. The path to Heaven is narrow, my friends. It's time we aren't soft about Christianity and speak the truth as it is.

When he returns, will you be living for him?

The Sin That So Easily Entangles

"Satan may try to get you to doubt your salvation.  He may cause you to wonder if you really are a Christian, and tell you that because you do not feel any different than before, nothing really happened.  And then, you might sin. You might slip back into your old ways. Satan is quick to sow the seeds of doubt by telling you that Christians don’t sin.  When doubts come, what will your answer be? "                                                                                      
                                                                                                     for more about assurance in our salvation, click HERE.


I read that quote today and was amazed at how much it pertained to my life right now. This week i've been wrestling with the thought of sin and how it so easily entagles and tempts us. As I prayed last night, I remember asking God "how can you love me? this poor pathetic muck who can't do anything right?" All I could think about was how much I've failed and how much I suck at life. I continue to do wrong. "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." - Romans 7:14-25. Paul's got me down to a tee. Temptation is such a tangled web. The father of lies tells us that it's no big deal, it's innocent, nothing bad will happen, "surely you will not die" (genesis), just give in because you know you want to. Satan distorts your thoughts and makes you actually do/accept things you never thought you would. He's such a magnificent liar. He's so smooth when he talks. He seduces you with an idea that's not from God. He uses temptation to draw us out of fellowship with God. 


The worst thing he does, especially for me, is cause us to doubt. 


Oh, the doubt he's put in my mind. He's even gotten me to doubt my own salvation. Just like the quote from above, "if I still want to sin, and I'm aware of it, then I must not love God. Maybe I was never saved". and he'll use those doubts to make us doubt other things - is what God said really true? Do we really need to obey his law? Is it really that bad to get drunk? Would it be so terrible to have sex just once? Before you know it, you're on a vicious cycle downward and then it takes a toll on you emotionally. You become upset, angry, frustrated, and so overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. Did you know doubt was the very first sin? Read about "the fall" in Genesis chapter 3. Satan confronted Eve with the question "did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?". He tried to manipulate what God said to confuse Eve and cause her to doubt. Then he enticed her with the apple (temptation). Poor Eve. If only she stood her ground in her faith. She probably thought one bite was harmless.


And yet, here we are thinking sin is harmless.. just look at what happened to EVE. She was out of fellowship with God. Ironic, huh, that what happened years ago is still the forerunner in our spiritual battles today. 


It happens so easily. Temptation messes with our heads and screws with our souls. It's so easy to sin and so hard to do what's right. Because of this, we may feel like we are worthless, powerless; a screw up. We are nothing. Thank God he sent Jesus to save us because we'd be out of luck if he didn't. And thank God we don't lose our salvation even thought we sin. We do lose our fellowship with God, though, as if there's a strain in the relationship until we ask for forgiveness. Like a family doesn't disown their three-year-old son when he misbehaves, God does not disown us - but disciplines us to shape our character. Thank God for that, too. 


Sin. Why do we underestimate it's power to destroy our lives? Do we forget that the path is narrow and most of us won't make it to Heaven? Are we content with sin? Or are we gonna fight it?


I've got some links below that I think you guys will really enjoy. It's so true (and so convicting).

You've gotta hear this guy talk on this subject. It'll change your view for sure

Mark Driscoll - How to Overcome Sin 

Make War by Tedashii 
About our war against the sinful flesh

 

Killa by Lecrae

About how sin so seductively entangles us