I’m tired.

I’m tired of trying to be all things to all men.

I’m tired of pretending our church is perfect.  That’s it does everything it should.

As much as I have said that we ARE NOT perfect deep inside me there’s a feeling that we should be and maybe if we try harder or get better or change more, we will be.

Just this week we got an email from someone thinking of coming to our church who said “I’ve heard both good and bad about your church.”  I can’t tell you how terrible that made me feel at first.  I was devastated.

But guess what.  They are right.  We stink at some things.  There I said it.  Are you surprised?  Hard to believe a Pastor will confess that his church isn’t good at everything?  I find it incredibly liberating.

Let me put it another way – if you want us to be “just want you wanted” in a church, look elsewhere.  We can never be that church.  And yes, we make mistakes as well as having a different opinion of what church should be from you.  Again, I’m tired of pretending otherwise.

What do we stink at?  Well, that’s hard to say.  What one person says we stink at another person says we’re really good at.  I guess it all comes down to personal context.

While we never intentionally try to stink, we are a church filled with decomposing human beings who desperately need the sanctifying work of Jesus DAILY.  So don’t be too surprised when we make a bad call on a certain ministry or ignore you unintentionally, or offend you without Biblical cause.

Yep, we stink at some things.

There is only one person in the history of the church who always got it right.  Jesus. Look at Mark 7:37 (NIV) “People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,”

Jesus did everything well.  He still was vilified and crucified for it but He did everything well.  His church has a long history of not doing many things well.  But its still His church, its His home, and like you, He’s never truly done working on His home.

The good news is this: If you are tired of pretending to be perfect and believing you must have everything right in your life, you’ll fit right in with us.  You need grace, so do we. Hopefully we will show you a ton of it!

Yes, we stink at some things.  But Jesus isn’t done.  When He is, we’ll be gone.

PS – I’m not quitting serving Jesus. I’m just quitting trying to impress. People need hope in Christ, not heroes in church.

2 Cor. 3:18 (NIV)
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

PT