Perfectly Imperfect

It's so easy to get caught up in looking at other people, especially at church, and without meaning to, pass judgment. You may look at the song leader, the youth minister, or the pastor and think they have it all together. It is easy to assume because someone is in leadership that they have somehow arrived and have the world by the tail. The truth is that we are all works in progress. God is still molding and shaping us every single day. No one in your church is perfect. No family is perfect. No group of people are perfect. We are all striving to run this race the best we can, and sometimes we just need to remember that.

My dad was a minister all of my life until God called him home. He was an evangelist and then later a pastor. As I grew up, many people in the church needed counseling and prayer. It did not matter that my dad was not paid by the church. It did not matter that he worked a full-time job as a truck driver. My dad was called late at night, in the early morning hours, and throughout the day. He worked weekends and holidays for the people in the church. He would make himself available and people were always dropping by the house to talk to my dad and get prayer. We might be having supper and they would come in and usually they were pulled up to the table next to us, but there was always plenty and my mom was, and still is, an amazing cook!

I noticed through the years, that people would treat us differently than other people. We were the preacher's kids and so as a young child, I was expected to know the scriptures in depth. At the age of 9 I remember getting my own Bible. It was a dark brown Bible and I loved it. The cover and pages were stiff as I carefully turned each page. Only a few years ago did I replace that Bible. I still have my tattered and worn Bible. I love and cherish it, but it needed to be replaced and my new Bible shows great signs of wear already as I cling to that Holy book like none other. The expectation for me to know the scriptures and to give advice never left me.

I remember at the age of 16 years old, I asked my Sunday school teacher a question. I cannot remember what it was, but I know I always asked difficult questions because I desired to know more. I had a hunger and thirst for the things of God that could only be quenched by more of Him. My Sunday school teacher told my dad and the pastor of that church and a few other men in leadership that he was no longer going to be teaching my class and that I should teach it because I knew more than he did! I was shocked! But the next week, sure enough, I was teaching the class to kids my own age. That expectation was that I should know it.

Sometimes it was lonely growing up in a church where my family played musical instruments and sang and my dad was in the ministry. It was hard to get close to people who thought your life was perfect. It was far from perfect and I have the scars to prove it, but don't we all have a story? Today I want to encourage you, if you are in the same place I have been in so often; or maybe you are the person who goes to church and sort of has your pastor and other leaders on a pedestal. I want to share with you a passage of scripture that reminds us that no matter how big of a following we may have, none of us have arrived at the place we need to be in God. We can always go deeper, seek Him more, and do more to show the world His love.

Philippians 3:13-14

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul tells them in the book of Philippians that he does not consider himself to have some special understanding. He says the key to living for God the way he has been doing it, is to forget the past! Forget the failures. Forget the mistakes. Forget the regrets. Forget the yesterdays. Stop looking back and rehearsing all the things you did wrong. Stop replaying situations in your mind over and over again, thinking of how you wish you would have done things differently.

Paul says switch your focus to what is just ahead of you. Better days are coming. Great things await. Your best days are in front of you, not behind you. Stop looking back, because you are not going that direction! You must look ahead. Look to the future. It is bright and exciting because God is there with an armload of gifts and mercies and grace to share with you. He is ahead of you making crooked paths straight. He is going before you and clearing your path.

Paul said that he presses toward the mark. He doesn't just randomly go through life, hoping for the best, not really sure how things will turn out. No, he is intentional about his choices. He is intentional about the way he spends his time, what he chooses to think about, and who he is spending time with. What is the mark? The prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The prize is eternal life with the God of all creation. The prize is an endless life with the Master, the Savior, the King of all kings, and Lord of all lords. 

No matter whether you are in the ministry and others have thought you were perfect, or whether you are the one looking around putting people on pedestals they don't belong on; remember this, we are all in the race together. We are all in a battle to the end, and we are fighting the good fight of faith against powers and principalities. We are not in a war with each other. We are in competition with no one but ourselves. We must try to be better today than we were yesterday. We must look to the future and forget our past. Learn from the mistakes but leave the shame, guilt, and condemnation behind. We must look to the future and all that God has in store for us.

Press on brothers and sisters. We are almost home. We are nearing the finish line. We are closer now than when we began. Lift one another up and let's stay in the race to win! I hope something you read here today has given you strength for your journey and light for your way.

God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens