Who I am Doesn't Like Who I've Been

Maybe you've been there: your past catches up to your present and you REALLY don't like the conflagration that ensues.  For many on the church, your past catching up to you can be a death sentence for your usefulness in the kingdom of God.  You become the pariah, cast out, looked down on, and really not welcome because of something you've done.  It might not even have any bearing on who you are today, but even its scars are enough to leave you with a very visible scarlet letter...

Why do we do this to ourselves?  Last time I checked, Scripture was clear that we were all a load of screw- ups (Romans 3.23) in need of some serious help because we were sick (Mark 2.17).  Truth not withstanding, that's often the appearance and necessity in many churches: we're all good, not a problem to be found.  If we show weakness or worse, sin, we're done and it's all over for us.  That's why Reliant K wrote a song many years ago about the church going down in flames.  But, haven't things changed?  Aren't we more honest and open about all of that now?  Maybe occasionally...but it still seems we go to perfect churches where no one has any major issues except illness, surgeries, and cancers.  Never a mention of sin, our past, or anything else to reference grace, just grace and love.

The truth though, is our lives are a story told in three parts: before Christ, meeting Christ, and following Christ.  Who we were before we met Christ isn't a stain or blemish, it's part of who we are and reference for how amazing God is.  Look at Paul (Galatians 1.11-24):

You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.  When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was...And still the Christians in the churches in Judea didn’t know me personally. All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” And they praised God because of me.

His whole argument here is that his past allowed him to speak into lives that otherwise would have not heard, that wouldn't have listened but for the fact that he had been who he had been!  Who we were before meeting Jesus tells of our life, good, bad, and ugly that has been transformed.  Meeting Jesus marks us in a whole new way- life change is the sign of new life.  That's why our story is important.  God meets us where we are, changes us, and then we embark on this new adventure of life with Him.  So, no matter what junk you've got in the trunk, don't let it stop you from being who God made you to be.  If someone else in the church doesn't get it, they're the ones at a loss because the people who see your new life who knew your old life will see God at work.  And showing who He is by the way we live is what it's all about...

Go be Jesus and allow His glory to trump your failures and past for His glory.  Sola Deo gloria....