The Pretenders

I think it's interesting the way we pretend.  We Christians really project the wrong image.  We act like we have it all together....like we don't have any problems.

Think about how many times we respond with....

 "I'm fine" when asked if we are ok?

You say..."Not much" when asked, "What's God up to in your life these days?"

And this line..."Oh, I don't have anything to share, life is great!", when asked "How can I pray for you?"

Hey...don't ask if you really don't want to hear the answer.

I don't know why we do that.  


Are we that prideful that we can't be open with each other?  


Get real.  Be honest.  


We all have problems because we live in a fallen world.  If nothing else we all know there is someone who needs Jesus and one person who could be prayed for.


There seems to be a very fragile glass house we like to construct around our perfect structured lives, to make it appear like the Christian life is grand.  It's the story we like to share with people because we don't want to be a burden with our own little problems, or our big problems.   But in doing so we really are cheating God. 


We are robbing God of the glory that belongs to Him.  By not being open and honest with our struggles, we dismiss the chance to give witness of any kind of God-change that happens, if we allow the work of God to take place.  


I might be guilty of this myself.


To outsiders, it might appear that I have all things under control and put the nicely ordered details of my life in a neat little Christian package with a pretty pink bow on top.  But honestly I have the same kind of struggles in many areas just like you.  


God is growing me into becoming a quirky God-fearing woman but it's not without my fair share of lessons along the way.  Buy me a cup of coffee sometime and I can tell you some stories.


Some potential believers think that they have to clean up before accepting Christ.  One look at our less-than-perfect-but-clean-on-the-outside lives and it makes Christianity look so unattainable.  What is needed is a wrecking ball loaded with God's awesome-ness to hit dead center on target to the delicate barriers we have carefully crafted.  


I don't have it all together.  I don't know of one person who does.  There is always something that we are hiding, covering up, or tucking into the inner ugly places and we don't want to deal with it.


Let's be honest with each other.  We need Jesus daily, we need to show our weakness and struggles with others so that they can see how God is working in our life.  We need addictions to be revealed so that we can be a living testimony to the saving and healing power of Jesus.  We need to go to our own burial grounds so that Jesus can roll away our stones and say "Come forth!"


I can't bring any perfection to this picture.  But I am thankful that God brings Jesus to the picture and sees me in His eyes of perfection.  By faith, I can share in that perfect big picture, but I know that I will never have it all together until I land in heaven.  I can't fix my broken parts.  God can and always has a better answer.  Let's just say...He has a lot of work to do.  


"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." Ephesians 3:16-17

God has made great progress too.  At each turn in this road He will show me my godly response and actions as He aligns my heart with his.  If only one step at a time, with just enough light for the very next step, He will guide as He leads, fixes and heals.  With each correction, it's He who is the Answer to the questions, the why's, the hows, the whatever's.  There is plenty to give witness to from this heart. 


I don't assume to know it all.  But I love the One who does.  Oh and that protective glass barrier...that was destroyed long ago.  Ask me...I'll tell you!