Real People, Real Life, Real Church: Let’s Be Real

It’s interesting to note as you read the gospels that Jesus’ harshest criticism wasn’t directed at the unrighteous, the ungodly, or the sinful.  Jesus’ most stinging criticism was reserved for hypocrites — those who outwardly professed one thing but were something else inside.  In fact, Jesus seemed most concerned with religious hypocrites — the ones who cloaked their actions in a religious veneer or language when inwardly they were not at all what they professed to be.

The messages in Imagine Church worship will explore ways for believers, seekers, and guests to explore the Christian faith in ways that are honest, open, and transparent.  You won’t hear me necessarily call us to virtuous or righteous living, because if that’s the standard we set and then fail to meet it, we run the risk of being seen as hypocritical.

Instead, let me suggest something that is far more compelling than our struggle to live a virtuous life.  It is to be authentic — to just be real.  To let outsiders see us for who we really are — human beings who are trying to get it right, trying to live a life before God that has meaning, value, and purpose.  Let’s be men and women who live and love as Christ did — without condition or restraint, putting another’s deal ahead of our own.  True meaning is most always found in honoring the hopes and dreams, the wishes and desires of another instead of simply focusing on ourselves.  I know that’s a radical departure from contemporary culture’s mantra of “serve no one except yourself.”  But have you ever met anyone who truly found fulfillment that way?  Jesus suggests another course to find fulfillment:  “If you seek to save your life, you will lose it.  But if you give your life for my sake and the gospel, you will find it.”

That’s truly the paradox of life, isn’t it?  Fulfillment is found in the giving away, not the taking.  In today’s self-absorbed, narcissistic culture, that’s a tough lesson to master.

However, I see examples all the time at Imagine Church of men and women who get it, and who demonstrate that biblical principle in authentic, genuine ways.  They love and don’t hold back, even though they run the risk of being heartbroken.  They give and don’t count the cost.  And in so doing, they clearly represent the heart of our Savior Jesus Christ who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

These are the ones who will change the world, one heart, one life at a time.  These are the ones in whom I see Jesus Christ revealed.  And in their nature, their character, their relationships, they demonstrate so very clearly what the name “Christian” is all about.  These are the ones among us who will change the perception that may yet linger about the Christian church in America today.  They accomplish it not through their virtuosity, but their authenticity.  For in so doing, they have captured and revealed the essence of none other than our Savior Jesus Christ.