My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
I see the bumper stickers saying that Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven. Because of the hypocrisy of the American Christian life, I used to be cynical. I would think that the occupant was using forgiveness as an excuse. It wasn’t that forgiveness was so much as a license to sin as it was a free pass to live an unexamined life.
At one time, I believed Plato’s axiom quite literally, namely that an unexamined life is not worth living. I benefitted from examining my own life, so I believed it was natural that it would benefit others. I fit in perfectly well with a church culture that stressed constant examination and purging. I, like others, assumed that we were becoming more spiritual through this exercise. We also thought that we were becoming more effective in bringing others to Christ. We strove for perfection so that others would be impressed by the work of God in our lives.
Who’s the hypocrite, now? It turns out that I wanted others to be impressed by the work of ME in MY life. I just so happened to have an inside track to God, and yeah, he loves you, too. Don’t you see what he’s done for me? He can do this and more for you. No, really, he can. Just become a member of my church and you can be a part of our wonderful training program guaranteed to give you a full life and a relationship to God. You’ll have awesome kids, you will have awesome friends, and more importantly, you will have an awesome purpose for your life. Don’t you want life to the full?
Being a Christian is fulfilling and provides great benefits. I have great friends, one of which is helping me to identify my family’s cash flow problems. I married a Christian woman. I have friends that are not like me in any way. I’m not saying that being a Christian is a joyless life of constant self-punishment and monkish study. What I am saying is that the value of the Christian life doesn’t come from the blessings God gives us. The value of the Christian life comes from our forgiveness.
I spoke with a neighbor the other day and he was sharing a sense of longing for spiritual things. He felt like that he hadn’t heard a good message in months. He felt like the minister was aloof and preaching to people that weren’t like him. When I asked him what he wanted, he replied that he wanted someone to share vulnerably from their own lives.
At first, I thought that he wanted a form of preaching I personally thought was unedifying. Sure someone can share from their own life, but what about sound exegesis? First set the sound exegesis, then find the personal application. It’s Bible 101 and the minister my neighbor was describing sounded like he was doing just that. But as I continued to listen, I began to understand what he was feeling and the background of what he meant.
He sees himself as a sinful man in need of forgiveness. He wanted to hear preaching based on that same paradigm. It seemed that the minister he was describing spoke of his great marriage and his great friends, but not the need for forgiveness. (I don’t know the minister’s true feelings about it, this was my neighbor’s experience.) His need was to be reminded that he is forgiven and that all Christians need forgiveness. My neighbor believes that God’s power is made perfect in weakness and wants to see that power realized in the lives of others.
So I look at my life and ponder – am I happy because of my blessings or because I’m forgiven? My circumstances are unpleasant in some regards. My wife’s health is taking a downturn and I feel weary much of the time. However, the truth is that I am still forgiven. I am still an heir of Christ. It doesn’t feel comforting right now, but the hope of Heaven does help. God is love and by his presence provides hope – at this point is seems that this hope is his power in weakness.