Those Not-So-Perfect Christians

Although I would love to say all Christians are wonderful people that would hardly be an accurate statement, especially when considering my own past.

I attend a church that was very up-and-coming while I was in junior high and high school. It was and still is the trendy place to go to church.

One of my church’s greatest draws is its youth program. In a town of 5,000 people, my church has almost 800 attendees, about 300 of them being children and young adults.

Although this definitely brings about wonderful things, it brings tragic and devastating things, as well.

My youth group was basically made up of cliques. Most of the cliques centered on certain groups at a certain high school, which I did not attend.

I always felt left out. I had been attending that church since I was born, and I didn’t fit in. As a result, I hardly went to youth group. When I did go, it was because I had promised my parents and myself that I would give it one more chance.

Other people felt the same way. Several teenagers left youth group because they simply didn’t fit in.

Why did this happen? I believe it was because my youth group as a whole wasn’t prioritizing things correctly.

As Christians, our priorities should more or less follow this sequence:

- God (Father, Son and Spirit)

- Other People (Family, friends, strangers)

- Work

- Self

Some people in my youth group were putting self above everything else. Their priorities were way out of whack. This mix up of priorities hurt several people, Christians and non-Christians alike.

If Christians want to be seen more positively, it won’t take some grand effort. It will just take a readjustment of priorities.

That Darn Apple

“No, Eve! Don’t eat that apple! You know what God told us!”
“Oh Adam, you’re right. Serpent, leave me alone, I am going to serve God and God alone.”

What would our lives be like if Adam and Eve hadn’t committed that first sin? Would we all be living in the Garden of Eden eating delicious fruit without having to worry about our weight or what we were wearing?

Probably not.

We all give Adam and Eve a hard time. We say things like,

“Why didn’t they just follow God’s instructions? He made them simple enough. All He said was don’t eat from that one tree. Adam and Eve were so dumb.”

But if we honestly think about it, how many things has God told us that we simply disregard at times.

For example, God said do not lie. Have you ever lied?

God said don’t be jealous. Has that green monster of jealousy simply gotten lost on his way to your mind?

God said love your neighbor as yourself. I bet you never once made fun of that creepy kid in the 6th grade who still wet the bed.

Ok…ok. I’ll stop.

Obviously, we’ve all given in to the serpent in one way or another. We’ve all blatantly done something that God specifically told us not to do.

So, although I’d like to blame Adam and Eve for my overfilled closet and my fear of the bathroom scale, I really can’t.

Even if Adam or Eve hadn’t sinned, one of us dumb people would have done it sooner or later.