Hypocrisy, Motives, and "Good Enough"

I'm not ashamed of the Gospel.

I am not ashamed to say that I believe that God is the one and only God, and Jesus Christ is Lord.

I am not ashamed of the Holy Bible, or a single word that is in it.

What I am ashamed of, however, is the better half of the church and all the Christians in the world, especially America,  who have either diluted the truth, or misconstrued it and taken it to the extreme.

Hypocrisy has so often been the label for all Christians...

Immediately, I must put myself in that category as well however, in the interest of being completely fair and honest with myself and others. I have been a hypocrite. Actually, to call me a hypocrite is putting it mildly when I think of how I have been. I have been among the worst of them all. 

In fact, many, even the majority of all Christians need to be reminded of some things.

We are not better than anyone else. 

We are still human - We make mistakes, we have emotions that are overwhelming sometimes, we deal with day to day life just like everyone else.

We are as low as the lowest, most vile character on this earth - every sin is equal in the eyes of God, from 'little white lies' to murder.

The difference is that we have chosen to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and the Lord of our lives.

We are saved by God's grace, and grace alone.

Not by our works, but by our faith in his sacrifice.

We are imperfect, but washed in the blood of a perfect Savior.

Our motives should not be that of greed, or pride, or anything for our own gain. Our motives should be out of love, for others and for our God.

We should strive to follow Christ's example.

But this doesn't mean we are perfect.

We aren't.

Only God, who IS perfect, has the right to judge people

But there is a catch there - We are not to judge people outside of the church.

In the church, we are supposed to lift each other up, and correct each other - BUT only out of love. 

Our intentions have to be good. Our motives have to be right.

We should not correct for our own self-satisfaction, but with the benefit of our brother or sister in Christ in mind.

Our lives need to be a testimony of the grace of Jesus Christ.

To quote the words of St. Francis, "Preach the Gospel constantly. If necessary, use words."

The way we LIVE will make an impression far more than what we say.

You can preach all you want, but if you live in a way that is contrary to your words, your words mean nothing.

Personally, I want to see what else God has for me. I want more than most Christians have been settling for. I don't want to be content with being lukewarm, I don't want "good enough". I want the best God has for me. I know this is a dangerous thing to want. I know it means I will have to risk everything. I know that by all human logic, this is a stupid thing.

But I don't care. Bring it on.

So God, what do you have for me?