Come As You Are

(this is a long article for me but worth the read i believe)
Recently I had the opportunity to counsel with a young lady that had many questions about faith in Christ. One afternoon she came to the church office and we talked. I had never met her before but she was referred to me through a mutual friend that had been talking with her about faith as well but asked me to also talk with her. For the first part of our visit I just listened. She had a lot of great questions and I could tell she was very confused and really searching for some answers. For the most part, she had been led to believe that she was not worthy of God’s love and believed because of her rough past, she could not come to Jesus as she was. There must be something she had to do to “clean up” before Jesus would receive her she thought.

As I was listening to her story I immediately thought of my own story in life and how I must have believed the same thing in my past. The only difference in our stories is she is searching and I was not back then. After she was drawing to a conclusion of sharing her back ground, I sensed it was my time to respond. As I listened to her and at the same time thought of own story I was asking myself, “Why am I where I am today?” and “How did I get where I am serving on a church staff with my background?” You see, I believed the same thing she did growing up and yet I made it to where I am today. I was excited to share with her my story since she and I were so much alike.

I grew up in a Christian home but being the last of four siblings, it seemed we had strayed some from church and regular attendance. I don’t remember going to church much at all as a child except for special occasions like weddings and funerals. I lived a great childhood with great parents and had everything we needed, so I thought anyway. After high school however, I ended up in a rough group of guys and we did some things I would not be proud of today. We did a lot of destructive behavior and thought it was fun and cool. I wonder today how I would have ended up had it not been for my wife finding us a church. After we were married several years it was my wife that decided we needed to join a church.  Actually it was my wife and a friend that started visiting churches and dragging the two husbands along once they visited one they thought we would like. The last one we visited she really loved and I endured it. That following week the pastor of the small church and his wife stopped by our house for a visit. Long story short they led both my wife and I to faith in Christ that evening. This is what I am thinking while the young woman in my office was sharing her life story. How did I end up here as a minister with my past? That night the pastor shared scripture with us about God’s unconditional love and that you come to Jesus…as you are! 

You see the young lady in my office was confused and she had been led to believe that she was not worthy of God’s love and believed because of her rough past, she could not come to Jesus as she was. So now it was time to respond and I told her my best response would be to share my personal testimony with her. I think she really just wanted someone to say it’s all going to be ok. Little did she know we were very much alike and yet she was lost and confused and I was sitting is a nice office serving a large church with credentials hanging on my office wall. I proceeded to share my story and she became very attentive. I am sure now she did not expect my response. 

I told her that I believed as she did growing up and once I was an adult and married that I would have never believed that Jesus died for me and that all I had to do was trust and believe in him. I believed that Jesus would never want or accept me based on my past and the things that I had done. Since I believed that, I did not pursue God or church or religion or faith. I was just like this young woman in my office. After sharing my story, she and I immediately identified with each other and I think it eased her mind some as she was a little nervous coming to the church for help. I did the same thing the pastor did for me over 30 years ago by sharing some scriptures about how to trust and believe in Christ.

There was a pause in our conversations as we just looked at each other. I told her that the answer to her belief that Jesus would not accept her for her past was a lie. I then read her one more scripture. I could strongly sense that she was ready to make a dramatic change in her life. I asked if she would like to trust in Jesus and believe in him right here and now. She said yes and we prayed together. This young lady is now a Christian. 

What was that one more scripture? “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:6-8 NIV

After this verse she prayed and received Christ as her savior right there in my office, even though she was a sinner. During our conversation we had talked about Jesus dying on the cross and then he arose from the grave and is a living savior. In a few weeks we will be celebrating Holy Week or Passion Week or Easter as you may call it. For Christians, it is a time to celebrate that Jesus died for you and me, even while we were still sinners, and gave us his unconditional love. He then displayed his omnipotent power over death that whoever believes in him will have life everlasting.

Do you know someone who believes as the young woman did that day in my office? Share your story of redemption with others and watch God transform their life right before your very eyes just as Jesus did when he arose from the grave and appeared to so many! Come as you are and Jesus will receive you.

Your comments! Discussion!