Getting Real

One of the application points in last Sunday's message, from Psalm 42, was to "get real with God, and with yourself,"even when you are not feeling it. God can handle it, and we don't need to play games or keep up some pretentious front to anyone, especially Him, who knows better. Plus, when you are dealing with things like discouragement and depression, you need to know that you are in a safe place where it's okay to be real. 

Then Sunday night, we had our Connection Point church membership class, and one of the new members-to-be mentioned that one of the things that attracted their family to our church the most was that our church fellowship is...real. Needless to say, that warmed this pastor's heart to hear those words. For sure, that is one of the values we hold dear at Shelby Crossings, and for the most part, I agree that it is a strength of our church.

"Get real" is a common expression of our generation. We don't have to define it; we know what it means. But sometimes getting real means getting "messy." Life is hard, and when we take the step to take off our masks and cut through the surface-level layers of image-protection--and truly live in the abounding grace of our God--it makes us vulnerable and scares us to death. But it's worth the risk, I promise.

We must always resist the temptation to cover things over and act like everything's fine when it's not. We are imperfect people, in process, seeking to "get real" with ourselves, with one another, and most importantly, with God.

We in the church can be sure of one thing: the world is checking us out, not expecting that we would be perfect, but seeing if we are real. There is no greater turn-off to an unchurched world than superficial, artificial, hypocritical people, especially in church. They want to see substance, sincerity, authenticity. And often, they judge by our level of authenticity, how real they think our God is.

So, instead of acting like we've got it together, maybe we would all do well to work together to get it together, together. That's what the body of Christ is all about--living under God's grace and sharing in community with other imperfect people like ourselves, seeking to become all that He has called us to be. And that starts with getting real with Him...warts and all.

My prayer for each of us is that we'll experience the real-life joy of a real relationship with a very real God, even in the midst of all the real struggles and sin and pain that we all face each week. God knows where we are, and He sees beyond our masks, and desires to meet us where we are and "get real" with us today.

 May His sufficient grace be poured out in your life this week.  I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

--Pastor Ken