I bet you can easily think of at least one televangelist or Christian celebrity who has fallen hard in the public eye in your lifetime.
The story is almost always the same. A Christian rises to fame, develops a loyal following, displays a perfect life, a huge scandal breaks, and then the Christian is publicly humiliated…but mostly Christianity is tarnished.
The problem isn’t with the fame, it’s not the loyal following, it’s not even the scandal.
The problem is the perfect life.
As Christians, we know that there is absolutely no way anyone is living a perfect life, and because we know that we should do everything we can to not give the impression that we think we are living a perfect life.
One of the big complaints of Christians by non-believers is sanctimony.
They think that we believe that we are perfect and that we are better than they are and when one of us who portrays that kind of life falls, they celebrate.
If we would only make an effort to ensure that we never given the impression of perfection we could reach so many more of the lost.
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
The thing is, as difficult as it might be, a lot of good can come from a Christian showing imperfection. Not to be proud of the imperfection, but to show the world that we fail, that we constantly fail, but Jesus picks us right back up. Which is the whole point anyway.
We need Christ!
Without Christ, we are nothing. We are dead and showing the world that despite all of our flaws we still have salvation through Christ is possibly the best way to reach the lost. It makes us relatable.
So many unbelievers push back against belief because they think that they are not good enough. They feel that they can never meet that unattainable mark that we so often portray.
Skip sanctimony…be relatable.