Highlight 'Real'

Your heart is broken and yet you walk into church with a smile on your face. “Good day, Pastor”, you say. “Bless the Lord.” You’ve been dabbling in sin–not that you like to admit it–but you put on your ‘holy’ face before taking your usual seat in the pew on the left. You sit down, ready to play the part. You always have been. You always do.

But the truth is, those people sitting next to you? They’re just as broken. Some have come in carrying an unbearable amount of worry or grief. Others - just like you - have been wrestling with their sinful nature this week. And the Pastor you said good morning to? Even she knows pain. Even she falls short.

So why is it that we pretend that we don’t? Why is it that we choose to walk into church week after week with our shiny happy faces and our (forgive me for the COVID reference) masks? And what would it look like to take them off? I think the answer is found in these verses.

James exhorts the churches to whom he is writing, “Confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed”, and Paul instructs Timothy that “Love comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

Did you catch that? Pure hearts. Good consciences. Sincere faith. A healed you. A healed me.

Now that sounds freeing, doesn’t it?

So, my encouragement to you? Call a friend or leader you trust, let them know how you are really doing, and walk into church a little lighter this week.