Churches are not meant to be full of perfect people. No. Church should be a gathering of imperfect people: old, young, all walks of life and race, with scars and limps, struggles and failings. There weren’t a lot of people in the early church who were influential or who came from high-society families. They were just a ragtag bunch of everyday nobodies, ordinary folk with ordinary problems.
“I don’t see many of the brightest and best among you” wrote Paul in his first letter to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 MSG). I love that verse: it means hope for us all. But Paul knew exactly why God chooses the “nobodies” over the “somebodies”.
“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
(1 Corinthians 1: 27)
If you ever feel like the message about what it means to follow God is simple, don’t be afraid, because it is. There’s a lot about this journey of faith that seems foolish to other people. Forgiveness, for example, can seem crazy – until you know how much you are forgiven.
We don’t need to dress up Christ’s message of love, and we certainly don’t ever have to pretend to be someone good or religious. Instead, let’s follow Paul’s lead:
“I deliberately kept it plain and simple, first Jesus and who He is; then Jesus and what He did.”
(1 Corinthians 2:2 MSG).
When we live and share Christ, we are living and sharing love, freedom, humility, redemption, and kindness. Share His Gift!
Be Blessed this Christmas Season,
Pastor John