The pressure

**This post was written awhile back.  I just re-read it and decided to publish it...not sure what made me not publish it to begin with.**

A famous Christian died the other day.  It's been in the news left and right.  The things that are being printed aren't just about his accomplishments on earth but the his downfalls as well.  I haven't, yet, heard anything super scathing but I'm waiting.

My friend, Em, told me the other day that I could probably write a book on all the things that need to change within the Church, things that are going wrong, that are driving people farther away from faith.  I laughed a little and then got a little sad.  She's right, I have a lot of opinions on the Church.  I probably could write a book.

The reason comes down to this, the Church is made up of people.  Sin-filled, fallen people.  Not one of us is perfect.  Yet time and time again, we raise up people to heights and platforms that get taller and taller and smaller and smaller until, eventually, the person falls off...because they aren't perfect.

I passed a church the other day called "The Rock".  I'm ambivalent about their name, there are hundreds of churches with the same name.  What I did like was their tag line "The perfect church for imperfect people".  The perfect church for imperfect people.  Maybe their church isn't "perfect" but what that statement said to me was, "come on in, be you, none of us here have it all figured out, there is no judgement".  That connected with my soul.

Christians are constantly under the pressure to be perfect, not because God expects perfection but because we have set up the system of Christianity to expect perfection.  Perfect attendance, perfect giving, perfect faith, perfect understanding of Scripture, perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfection rules in our churches...and yet, we are imperfect, fallen people.  How are we to live up?

The simple answer is, we don't.  We fall.  People rise to the top of the Christian circles only to fall hard.  Redemption isn't always offered after the fall, either.  Another example of our imperfection.  I think there's a whole sermon to be preached there.

This past week I was surrounded by people 24 hours a day for 7 days.  It wasn't an easy week for me.  I had some pretty deep stuff going on inside.  I was far from perfect.  The last night, we all stood together in a forgiveness circle, students and adult leaders.  Some of us walked across the circle to ask forgiveness of another person for something that had happened during the week.  Adults and students alike had to face each other and ask forgiveness...and forgive.  It was challenging.  I had to forgive and ask forgiveness myself.  It was so difficult but so freeing at the same time.

We, Christians, aren't perfect.  We have fallen.  We need to ask for forgiveness, we need to forgive and we need to let go of the perfect Christian image, let go of the hypocrisy that says "We've got it all together" because we don't.  We make mistakes, we get things wrong and yet we are loved anyway.  That's what grace is, isn't it?  It's time to release the pressure valve of Christianity.