By Dianne E. Butts:

3 Things to Remember when Christians Disappoint Us

Have you been wounded by a Christian, or read in the media about the failings of  professing Christians and decided they must be  hypocrites?

Have you then used that as an excuse to not believe in Christ yourself?

Well, do bear in mind:

1. Inevitably, professing Christians will disappoint us, because we all fail at times. Christians are supposed to live their lives striving to do what is right. But sometimes the failings of Christians are huge, which not only makes other Christians look bad but can also desperately wound others.

Know this, though: the Bible is filled with stories of God’s people failing: Moses killed a man and buried him in the sand, not knowing someone was watching. King David had an adulterous relationship and committed murder in an attempt to cover it up. Of course Christians shouldn’t do the terrible things Moses and David  did. The Bible is full of stories about terrible mistakes people made: not to endorse those mistakes, but to chronicle actual historical events and reveal repentance, forgiveness and redemption.

It is the grace of God and His forgiveness that saves us, not our bad (or good) behavior. (See the video embedded below!)

2. Still, God can use people who do bad things. Moses still led the people of Israel out of Egypt and built the tabernacle, one of the greatest object lessons that explains God. King David still fathered the bloodline that led to Messiah, as God promised would happen. David drew the plans and financed the Temple (the permanent version of Moses’ object-lesson Tabernacle) that his son, Solomon would build.

Have you ever done a bad thing? God can still use you for good, if you will begin now to cooperate with Him.

3. To not follow Jesus, because of  bad things some Jesus-followers do, will deprive YOU. When we stand before Jesus on Judgement Day (and there will be a Judgement Day!), telling God you rejected Him because you heard about a professing Christian who groped women, or was accused of not being honest in financial dealings, or made other even more terrible choices won’t fly. God will judge you on what you do. You won’t be able to use any other failing people you justify as hypocrites as your excuse.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13 (Bible, New International Version)

Are you confused about the relationship between works (good deeds we do) and faith, and how that affects your salvation? Here is an excellent short film from Igniter Media that explains it well, and creatively too!

You Do The Math, from Igniter Media.

Downloads and DVDs are available at http://www.ignitermedia.com.

 ©Dianne E. Butts. Dianne has over 275 articles and short fiction in more than fifty publications. She is a regular contributor to Finding God Daily. You can find Dianne’s blog HERE.