Have you ever walked into a church and felt like you were at some odd version of a Christian prom?

Everybody gets dressed up, smiles, and acts like everything is cool. Never mind what’s really going on behind the scenes in life, we feel pressure to keep up appearances. Maybe this is why I love this challenge from Fil Anderson:

“My highest hope is for all of us to stop trying to fool others by appearing to have our act together. As people living in intimate union with God, we need to become better known for what and who we actually are. Perhaps a good place to begin would be telling the world—before the world does its own investigation—that we’re not as bad as they think. We’re worse. At least I know that I’m worse. Let’s get real. For every mean-spirited, judgmental thing some preacher has said, I’ve thought something nastier, more hateful and more cutting about one of my neighbors. For every alleged act of homophobia by my fellow Christians, I’ve done something stupid to demonstrate my manliness. For every brother or sister whose moral failure has been exposed, I’ve failed privately. No matter how boring followers of Jesus may appear to be to the outsiders, they don’t know the half of it; trust me.… If we really believe the gospel we proclaim, we’ll be honest about our own beauty and brokenness, and the beautiful broken One will make himself known to our neighbors through the chinks in our armor—and in theirs.”

Only when we are honest about our “own beauty and brokenness” can we really begin to heal and become the people God desires. Some say the church is full of hypocrites; I respond with the oft quoted line that they should come along anyway because “there is always room for one more.” Thank God for his grace! We don’t have to act like we’re at the prom when we’re hurting. And when we’re honest about our sin and our need for the grace of Jesus we can be surprised at the care and concern we receive.