“I do not consider,
brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it
is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to
what lies ahead,
I press on toward the
goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is
calling us upward.”
Philippians 3:13-14
Are you perfect?
Most would answer no!
Some might answer no, but pretend otherwise.
Paul didn’t pretend otherwise.
In various places in the Epistles he was quick to
admit his shortcomings and in today’s verses Paul readily admitted there were
some things he did not yet grasp or apprehend.
Perhaps there is no barrier greater for an unbeliever
to get around in order to accept Christ as the one who presents him or herself
as the ‘perfect’ Christian.
We all miss the mark, we all have shortcomings, we all
sin.
To pretend otherwise is to deny what is so often
painfully obvious to others.
We recognize that Jesus died on the cross for our sins
and that when we do sin we can confess our sin, repent and be forgiven.
Keeping it real is just another way of recognizing that
Jesus is the only one who was, and is, without sin but that you and me are a work
in progress.
Do you keep it real with family, friends and
co-workers who may not know Christ?
Of course I am not talking about intentionally sinning
to make them somehw feel ‘comfortable’.
That would be foolish.
That would dilute the message.
Paul kept it real.
In so doing, he strengthened the message of the cross.
We are, all of us, sinners in need of the grace of
God.
Our ‘pedigree’, our education, our bank account will
not help.
Are you keeping it real before others?
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