Approachable Christians
A few nights ago, I offered my perspective on approachable saints, and how important it is for Christians to remember that the heroes of the faith over the centuries were real people. They struggled. They sinned. They made mistakes. Yet, God, through His mercy and grace used these folks to accomplish His purposes and bring glory to His Name.
As Christians, we are all real people too. We struggle. We sin. We make mistakes. To be believable, we have to be willing to admit our frailty, our foibles, and our failures. To be approachable, we have to be vulnerable with others. To be trusted, we have to take a risk in trusting others. To be forgiven, we have to be willing to admit our wrongs. To heal, we have to allow others to bring God's healing power into our lives. To love, we have to love others as they really are (not as we would ideally have them be) and let others love us as we really are (not as they would ideally have us be). We also have to love ourselves as we are (while asking God to make us better).
When we are real with ourselves, real with others, and real with God, we are on the path toward living life with integrity and humility. That's easy for me to say, but difficult for me to do. Too often, I find myself putting on one face for this person and another for someone else, or being vulnerable with one group of people and distant from another. Even in prayer, it is difficult being real with God much of the time. I come to God in prayer with the "best of intentions" to later discover that I wasn't quite as honest as I should be with the God of the universe.
I once heard one of my favorite preachers tell his congregation, "God knows me for the skunk that I am." Well, he knows us all for the skunks that we are! But, we Christians are redeemed skunks, purchased with the blood of our Savior, saved by His grace and mercy, loved and accepted "just as we are without one plea."
I once heard a beautiful sermon about living with integrity, which was based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. I am providing a link to the Twelve Steps here (http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-121_en.pdf) because they provide an effective guide that all believers can follow. Wherever alcohol is mentioned, you may substitute it with the destructive habit or addiction of your choice, or simply say "sin".
When we can be real with ourselves, with others, and with our God, we invite Him to work wonders in our life; we highlight His mercy and grace toward us; we demonstrate our reliance on Him; we allow Him to heal us of our sin. We become real people who are approachable as Christians...imperfect creatures, made perfect in Him.
As Christians, we are all real people too. We struggle. We sin. We make mistakes. To be believable, we have to be willing to admit our frailty, our foibles, and our failures. To be approachable, we have to be vulnerable with others. To be trusted, we have to take a risk in trusting others. To be forgiven, we have to be willing to admit our wrongs. To heal, we have to allow others to bring God's healing power into our lives. To love, we have to love others as they really are (not as we would ideally have them be) and let others love us as we really are (not as they would ideally have us be). We also have to love ourselves as we are (while asking God to make us better).
When we are real with ourselves, real with others, and real with God, we are on the path toward living life with integrity and humility. That's easy for me to say, but difficult for me to do. Too often, I find myself putting on one face for this person and another for someone else, or being vulnerable with one group of people and distant from another. Even in prayer, it is difficult being real with God much of the time. I come to God in prayer with the "best of intentions" to later discover that I wasn't quite as honest as I should be with the God of the universe.
I once heard one of my favorite preachers tell his congregation, "God knows me for the skunk that I am." Well, he knows us all for the skunks that we are! But, we Christians are redeemed skunks, purchased with the blood of our Savior, saved by His grace and mercy, loved and accepted "just as we are without one plea."
I once heard a beautiful sermon about living with integrity, which was based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. I am providing a link to the Twelve Steps here (http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-121_en.pdf) because they provide an effective guide that all believers can follow. Wherever alcohol is mentioned, you may substitute it with the destructive habit or addiction of your choice, or simply say "sin".
When we can be real with ourselves, with others, and with our God, we invite Him to work wonders in our life; we highlight His mercy and grace toward us; we demonstrate our reliance on Him; we allow Him to heal us of our sin. We become real people who are approachable as Christians...imperfect creatures, made perfect in Him.
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