When people ask, ‘You go to church? You’re a Christian?’ — what most people really mean is, ‘So you’re a good church kid? You don’t curse or smoke or drink or kick old ladies?’ And most of us answer, ‘Yeah, I’m trying.’ Except going to church doesn’t make us good, nor is church a special place for good people. The word Christian has become this loaded label that now means what we do instead of who we are. We’re adopted by a gracious good heavenly Father; we don’t ‘try’ to be His because He’s already called us to Him. The Real-Life Christian says, ‘I’m honestly just a broken mess who met Jesus and he is blowing me up.’ So when people ask about church, we can say, ‘I don’t know what you mean by that, but all I know is there’s nothing good in me except God in me, and everything bad in me, God is working on that.
Originally posted here.
J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain 
And I say a hearty “Amen!” to that! So many think that believers were born with no troubles or have somehow attained that level of perfection that most equate with sainthood. The truth is that we are all in process and church is not a place of perfection. It’s a messy house that is coinstantly being cleaned by a God who never gives up.
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Absolutely. I think we are finally entering a different church age where everything you said will be acceptable.
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This is a perfect transition statement into building relationships with people. It is open ended enough for people to ask questions, and questions lead to talking to people about the restorative and redemptive power of Jesus Christ. My high schoolers don’t need more theology (don’t take that statement wrong), They need practical ways to interact with their peers. Taking a statement that has a negative undertone and turning it to illuminate the positive is what we all need! Thank you, J.S. for your blog. I use your blog on a regular basis to encourage my teens. 🙂
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Thank you for your encouragement! It seems to be the first question I hear around secular circles, and the ensuing conversation always bothered me. I regularly hear, “Well I’m not good enough to go to church, but I think I’m good enough on my own.” On one hand it’s a little ridiculous, but on the other hand it also breaks my heart that this is how churches come across — a place for so-called good people. I think we can change that with honest dialogue.
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