Something I have been struggling with: Are you frustrated with the self-centeredness of supposedly “mature” Christians?
You can’t have a decent conversation with them without them bringing up their irrelevant vacation to Mexico?
Categorically these people are the exact reason why most don’t go to church. I myself am tempted, nearly weekly, to spare myself the awkwardness of church and just sleep in.
I could offer a pretty strong theological argument for ditching church and instead going on a Sunday morning jog while listening to a sermon. I mean Jesus went off alone to grow with his relationship with God… why can’t I do that on Sundays? Right?
But here’s what keeps me coming back to Jesus AND his broken church who he relies on to do his work on earth: The realization that in the same way I “deal with selfish people“ is EXACTLY what Jesus does for me.
See if he is patient enough to endure my frequent “all about me“ attitude, then I can deal with other frustrating people. And really these people don’t need to get their act together, because all they need is Jesus.
And that’s all I should expect from them.
Because that’s all that matters.
It’s really quite simple: the same grace and forgiveness he has for me is channeled out of me to other people.
If I’m not channeling that same forgiveness, that is the indicator I have not personally accepted (nor am I channeling) God’s forgiveness in the first place. (see Matt 18:21-35)
Bottomline: if I am avoiding church because Christians annoy me, that’s the indicator I don’t understand God’s grace in my own life.