"Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven!"

Published on March 4, 2007 By Gideon MacLeish In Misc

It is, in my opinion, the single biggest cop-out used by CINOs (Christians in name only). They'll sport bumper stickers and T-Shirts that proclaim "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven", which, translated means "I can treat you like an ass; my God doesn't care as long as I pray about it at the end of the day".

Now I have always considered myself a Christian. I am beginning to believe I'm a Christian heretic, though, because I don't buy it. Being a Christian to me means more than just saying a couple of words and getting dunked in the river...it is a lifelong commitment.

Arguments, disagreements and such are one thing. We are, after all, still human and these things will still occur. Two individuals can't live together forever without some level of conflict, at least not in my experience. But there are arguments and disagreements, and then there is just flat out nastiness. And much as some people may not want to realize it, gossips fall in the same category as drunks, and, yes, the sexually immoral they want to blast from the pulpit. Take a look at Galatians and it's pretty clear that gossipping and lying about others will get you a ticket to the lake of fire as quick as homosexuality. But most preachers are strangely silent on that point.

Now, in our personal issues with the local Baptist church, we have gotten the minister to finally admit it IS a church issue. AFTER the church called us all sorts of names, AFTER they managed to wrangle a fair sum of money away from us because we can't afford legal counsel for municipal issues. He addressed it from the pulpit today, after the relationship with the church has been severed almost certainly irreparably.

I'm sick to death of people who demand that they can get away with living completely immoral lives because God doesn't care what happens and will usher them in because of a prayer they said when they were six in the Baptist church. God is a God of grace, in my opinion, but I believe there will be a lot of people who've spent their entire lives on the front pew of the local Baptist church who are in for a hell of a shock come judgement day.

Comments

MarcieMoo

on Mar 05, 2007

I agree that many "Christians" use that phrase as a license to live their lives in a way that is not pleasing to anyone but themselves. And I don't think that's okay. I think lots of Christians are so focused on the horizontal relationships they forget about the vertical relationship that makes them a damned Christian in the first place. What about God. I hadn't prayed in eons until I started going to Bible study about three weeks ago. It's made such a difference in my life, talking to God again. I'd shut Him out of my life for so long... I'm such a moron.

That being said, Gid, I don't want you to take this in the wrong way. I care about you, and this is why I'm saying what I'm about to say. I don't want you, on the day we stand before God, to be pointing and lauging at these people in your former church if God gives them a good talking to about their behavior, you know? If Christians are perfect, just forgiven, maybe this is your chance to forgive what they've done to you, and show them the ultimate kindness. I'm not saying that you need to go back to that church...I don't think that God would want you and your family back in that environment. But pray for healing within their congregation, encourage them when you see them, and maybe work on some of this bitterness that you harbor in your own heart, you know?

I know I've got lots of work to do in the bitterness area in my life right now...oh Lord...I need His axe to chisel my heart out of that stone.

Gideon MacLeish

on Mar 05, 2007

Oh, I forgave them a long time ago, Marcie. But I guarantee you God's not giving people a free pass to be the horrible creatures some people who claim to be Christians are.

Gideon MacLeish

on Mar 05, 2007

But pray for healing within their congregation, encourage them when you see them, and maybe work on some of this bitterness that you harbor in your own heart, you know?

Actually, they won't even talk to us. They avoid us deliberately now.

I'll let it stay that way.

Gideon MacLeish

on Mar 05, 2007

Anyway, Marcie, it's not about my forgiving them or not forgiving them. I'm just sick of seeing Christians claim to get a free pass on acting like buttholes just because they claim a relationship with Christ. Shouldn't the fruits of the Spirit be present in the lives of the believer, or was Paul just joking? Did God REALLY destroy Sodom for "Pride, excess of food, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door" (Ezekial 16:49), or was it a typo? If we claim to believe the Bible but live the lives many of us lead, our actions betray our faith.

Zoologist03

on Mar 05, 2007

I'm a Christian...I wouldn't say I'm the best. I'm definitely not a churchgoer, and pretty much for the reason you mentioned here...some people are total dicks and think that going to church somehow makes it okay for them to be like that. I can't stand that kind of thinking. I just live without intentionally causing people pain or strife and help out when I can...I'm pretty sure those are decent Christian values. Then again, I think evolution makes sense...so maybe I'm not Christian.

~Zoo

MarcieMoo

on Mar 05, 2007

I agree wholeheartedly.

But I'm guilty as well. I am a Christian but I lived in the same house with my husband before we got married (separate bedrooms, mind you, but how many Christians actually do that?). I'm a Christian but I swear like a sailor. I'm a Christian but I was so upset on Thursday I was cussing at my boss using words most sailors don't. You know?

I'm a hypocrite. I haven't been to church since Christmas. And I need to. Especially now. I need that family to wrap its arms around me and hug me...

I'm an ass...but I try really hard not to treat other people like asses. It happens sometimes though, whether I want it to, or not.

Ennarath

on Mar 05, 2007

I too am tired of people who think that being a Christian means hiding your dirty deeds and feeling bad about them. Personally I wake up in the morning remembering who I am and that all I have is my integrity.

Dr Guy

on Mar 05, 2007

I always have been uncomfortable with death bed confessions. But since I am not god, I figure he would determine if they were sincere or not.

But I agree Gideon. No one can forgive you your transgressions if you are not truly sorry for them, and openly confessing them is not what God hears. He hears what is in your heart.

Question of the Day

on Mar 05, 2007

they forget about the vertical relationship that makes them a damned Christian in the first place.

hee..hee... I just had to laugh at this one. Damned Christians..... hm, and I thought I was saved....

I too am a hypocrite. But through prayer, God's Grace and the Holy Spirit, I'm striving to learn more and to live more righteously.

adnauseam

on Mar 06, 2007

I'll tell you a little about some so-called Christians in South Africa. There are some people who make a big fuss about the church (their special church), there, turning up on Sunday with the finest clothes, chatting with the minister, getting their kids into Sunday school. The rest of the week (many are farmers),they treat their black employees, who live in hovels, like slaves. Don't misunderstand me--they are a minority-- but their hypocracy really got to me.

Their ignorance about the "Greater God" and the "Greater World" still signifies why Apartheid lives on in some communities.There are still many small communities in the country who still practice racism the way it was before.

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