Yesterday, I was in a conversation with someone about a church. Churches will remain anonymous. Names even moreso. But I will give the church a fake name - Pleasantville Church.
Pleasantville Church is actually better than every other church in its community. Better in the sense that they are more loving, encouraging, and accepting. However, they have made a terrible blunder and stopped admitting that they have problems, which has put a halt to trying to improve themselves. I told the member on the phone that they need to do some reexamination. They need to stop comparing themselves to other churches in their community and start comparing themselves to Christ.
If I compare my life and my walk with God to those around me, I might be able to become prideful about my spirituality. It would all depend on the circle of people around me. If I always compare my life to Christ and his perfection, I will always see the ideal I need to strive for, room for improvement, and the need to continually stand on grace.
That is the problem with Pleasantville Church. They compare themselves to the failing churches of their community rather than the ideal Church of Christ. Sadly, they have probably never exeperienced or seen a church that is totally committed to doing God's will. If I was to give one sentence of advice to Pleasantville Church, it would be, "Live in God's grace."
When we live with the world's mindset of success we try to sugarcoat our resume so that we are appealing to those around us. Our blemishes are something to hide. When we live in God's grace we are free to acknowledge our failings and improve upon them. God's grace allows for all of our silly and, sometimes, very serious imperfections. He is willing to take us with all of our faults and begin to improve upon them.
If you want to reach perfection, live in God's grace where you are free to admit your failings.
Watch out for the potholes.
