FYI: Christians Will Fail

07 March, 2016

I was told shocking news last night. Without going into much detail, a friend of mine made a big mistake. He's a Christian and was unashamed about his faith, and I'd even receive occasional Bible verses from him via text. We were never extremely close, but I would definitely call him a friend.

It's a rough situation to the point where police got involved. He's gotten himself into quite a mess.

It rocked my night. It was hard for me to fall asleep thinking about what happened. "Why on Earth would he do that? Didn't he know any better? Where was Jesus in the midst of this? I thought he loved Jesus? Was he lying? Was he a phony?"

I don't think he was lying about his love for Jesus one bit. I do think, however, he temporarily slipped from his faith. Little compromises lead to staggering sins. He was probably having a low season in his faith, leading to this big-time fall.

I saw him as a Godly man. I don't know a whole lot of confident, Christian men, a handful here and there, and look to them as set-apart from society. I think it's really cool when a man can boldly stand for what he knows is right.

Because of this man's fall, I felt uneasy. I felt confused. And then I realized why.

Often, we look to others as being our example of Jesus. We look to friends, family members, and the church. But what about when they fail us - as all humans do?

Read this excerpt from Pastor Judah Smith's book Jesus Is. He explains how even pastors make huge mistakes.

Just because we see a fellow Christian fall into sin does not mean we need to fall down, too. It doesn't mean to need a worry the same will happen to us. It doesn't mean we need to question our faith.

God is here. Even when a Christian fails, God is here. Look at Peter - he denied Jesus three times in one night, the very night he told Jesus he would stand by his side forever!

Just because Jesus's followers will make mistakes does not mean we should lose trust in Jesus.

Also - just because a fellow Christian sins differently than we do does not mean they're worth less than we are.

We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. If and when someone close to us takes a hard fall, we can pray for them, encourage them, and get them back on the right track - the track towards Christ.

Living without Jesus can be fun and dandy in the short term, but sin is only fun for a season. Those who don't trust in Jesus will, in time, regret it. If you or a friend of yours has run away from God, don't be afraid to run back home. Remember the story of the Prodigal Son? Jesus won't even mention your sins when you return to Him, He will be too busy preparing your 'Welcome Home' party.

Jesus turns ashes into beauty. He turns a loser into a winner. He uses the foolish to shame the wise. We morphs a mess into a message.

That being said - please say a short prayer for my friend.