As we launch our new website and I try to be MUCH better about blogging regularly, one thing I'm going to start doing is writing a little bit about our discussion each Sunday night. This past week we had a Super Bowl party, which went really well. But I wanted to share about the discussion we had the previous Sunday. We're reading through Luke right now, just discussing as much as we get to on a given night, and a week and a half ago much of our discussion foucused on the area of authenticity. What sparked the discussion was Luke 6:37-42.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." He also told them this parable, "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? Students are not above their teacher, but all who are fully trained will be like their teacher. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say, 'Friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in yoru own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person's eye."
One of the things I've heard from people who won't go to church or struggled to make themselves go is that when they go they feel judged. Now your first reaction to that, like mine, might be, "But people aren't judging them, that's not true!" The problem with that is their perception will rule what they think of the church and probably Christians in general. But we can control perceptions, can we?
There are a couple ways we can try. One is by being open and authentic. Maybe part of the reason people feel judged is that all the Christians they come in contact with seem to have it all together. We all know they don't, but despite our belief in salvation by grace and the forgiveness of God, we do tend to hide our deficiencies and problems. We make it look like we've got it all together, so people who don't are naturally going to think we view them as inferior. So we need to work on removing our fascade and showing the world who we really are.
The second thing is that we can get to know people outside the church. It is very difficult to control how people percieve a large group, but it is much less difficult to control how people perceive us as individuals or families. Someone may believe the church is judgmental, but if they get to know you, and you're open about your own struggles and you are not judgmental of them, then they can't say all Christians are judgmental. But this means we can't spend all our time in a church or with our Christian friends. We need to be a light where people need a light. Our authenticity there can change people's false perceptions.
The last thing we discussed is how we respect people who are authentic. There was a woman in our Sunday School class in Denver who was completely open with the whole class (which included people she barely knew) about some very deep struggles. None of us thought, "wow, she's messed up, I can't believe she comes to church." Instead, she was one of the most respected and trusted people in the class. I will always look up to her in this area of authenticity. Our fear of what people will think is a deception Satan uses to trick us into being fake. Trapping us in our addictions and sin while making people uncomfortable about their imperfections at the same time. Real authenticity is a discipline, but it is one worth striving for.
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