Church is for sinners

One of the things that sticks with me the most is how churches seem to be more about how moral we can make people than how much more like Jesus we can make them. What I mean is this, we have seen the moral life that Jesus lived and so we make rules that say, "Dont drink, dont chew or date girls that do", but then the church becomes more like the morality police who want to make sure that people are acting as they should. So people get beat up from the pulpit to the point where they realize that a standard is being set that they could never live up to so they give up all together.

What if, though, church were a place where it is okay that you dont have it all together? What if pastors taught sin in its totality along side of grace? What if people left our churches every week realizing that they are sinners, and that they are hopless, but there is hope in the cross?

As I have studied the life of Jesus I become more and more convinced that the reason He went to the down and out of His culture is because those are the people who knew they needed help. Someone who, in their mind, think they have it all together has no need for a savior, however, someone who knows that they are broken and sinful can come to the realization that the only hope they have for salvation is Jesus.

That is the Gospel