CHRISTIANITY IS FULL OF IMPERFECT PEOPLE

 

Pastors/teachers with scandalous sins. Hypocritical church leaders. Judgmental church people. And yes, unfaithful Christian husbands and wives. Name it—we have it! Christianity is full of imperfect people. Disappointing? Yes. Discouraging? Absolutely. But we cannot deny this truth.

If we think about it, even without pointing out other people’s sins—just by focusing on ourselves—we’d still reach the same conclusion. Christians are still sinners. Each of us sins differently from others, but at the end of the day, we still sin. Some admit it. Some get caught. Some are experts at hiding it. But all of us still fall short. John is right when he said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn 1:8).

But there is a greater truth than this:
We have a perfect Christ.

Fortunately, the truth of Christianity does not depend on individual Christians but on only one person—Christ, and Christ alone. If it depended on us, it would have been gone a long time ago. As Christians, we are forgiven by faith, but that does not erase the reality that we remain sinners. That is why we need Christ just as much as unbelievers do. Thankfully, we have a perfect Savior who can meet our deepest need!

How should we respond to news about fellow Christians committing serious sins?

There are many ways. But if you ask me, we should first examine ourselves. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Cor 10:12). Just because we’re disappointed with others doesn’t mean we could never fall into the same sins. We need to be careful, for we still live in a fallen world.

Also, these situations call us to be more loving, because we are all still sinners. We don’t tolerate sin, for genuine love hates evil (Rom 12:9). But in the same way, we don’t tolerate hatred toward others, for that is not love. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph 4:32).

If given the chance, we should correct others—not as enemies but as brothers and sisters. “Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.” (2 Thess 3:15). And finally, even though it may sound obvious, we are to pray at all times, especially for our fellow Christians (Eph 6:18). Stay Curious.