I am convinced that there are many in the church who have a list of behaviors which define what is required to be a "good Christian". Almost as though God is overly concerned with who is naughty and who is nice. Now I am not advocating being naughty by any means, but what I am talking about is the weight that can be placed on words like reputation, stewardship, self-control, etc. While admirable and good traits, these words can too easily change to pretense, control, rigidity, and the like.
I believe we can lose track of Jesus in these instances. Or at least place him second to our own quest to be a "good Christian". The Bible contains so many stories of wonderful men and women of God who are by no means these "good Christians". David slept with another man's wife, Jonah disobeyed God and wouldn't go to Nineveh (and met with a fish's belly), Peter denied Jesus three times, to name a few.
Lets not strive to be a "good Christian" and measure ourselves by a listing of character traits or self-goals. Lets strive to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul mind and strength—and love our neighbors as ourselves. Then let the list take care of itself.
Rick, could not agree more. If you haven't read it you might want to read a great book called Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli. The subtitle is God's annoying love for imperfect people, which will give you an idea of where the book is going. :)
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