I'm a sinner. There, I said it!

Okay, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we KNOW we are not perfect. Christians are not perfect. There, I said it out loud. If you ask the question, "what is a hypocrite", most non-believers will say, "Christians!" Why do you suppose that is? No doubt we could debate that questions for blog-eons, but the simple truth is we don't practice what we preach - plain and simple. We are human. We are imperfect. We know we're not without sin, the unbeliever knows we're not without sin, so why is it that we can't say, "I know that you know that I know, so I'm gonna stop pretending that you don't know!" Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". All! Okay, let's say it together..."ALL have sinned". That means you and me!

I have found that one of the greatest stumbling blocks in our evangelism is that the unchurched see the sometimes awful way we treat one another. Oh sure, it's easy to love the drug addict, the homeless wino, or the Africa orphan. After all, they need Jesus and we want them to know Jesus. But when it comes to loving and caring for the other members of the body of Christ...well, that can be a real challenge. What was the last thing Jesus did with His disciples before He went to the cross? He washed their feet! John, chapter 13 lays out the story beautifully. Jesus wasn't afraid to deal with the real dirt. So often, when the lives of the people in the pew next to us get messy and dirty, we move to another pew. We cut off the body parts, just when they need us to pump life saving blood into them. Jesus didn't do that! Jesus walked right up to the dirt and the mess, and washed the feet of the disciples. Then Jesus, in verse 14 says, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet".

In this blog I want to bring into light that which has been hidden in darkness - the fact that churches, temples, and synagogues are filled with dirty, messy people, who just like me, have been saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8 tells us it is "by grace you are saved, through faith...it is a gift of God". 1st Corinthians 4:5 says, "He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive His praise from God." Let's shine a light on the fact that we are ALL sinners and that we do not think ourselves to be higher than anyone else. We just want as many people as possible to know about the awesome gift of salvation. We want the world to know that we are just like them - sinners!!!

Come on, who's with me? Get off the pew and tell your story. Were hurt by another believer? Were you cut off just when you needed the body to love on you? Did someone push you off the pew or out the doors when they discovered your life was messy or dirty? Let's shine a light on something that's been kept a secret in most churches...we are SINNERS! The good news is we are SAVED sinners. That's worth shoutin' about. Get off the pew!