They might like you if.....

When I was in grade school I was not one of the "cool" kids. I was the skinny kid that had no clue, I
was a nerdy, crooked toothed girl with a  bushy not so straight, homecut  pixie. It was a miserable time in my life. What made it worse was that I was at a private school, in a very small class of kids, 12 to be exact. Among the girls there were a couple that felt sorry for me and were nice, a bully and a snob. The snob decided it was her responsibility to be my "friend" and give me a list of things I could do to be liked. Really she just wanted me to model myself after her. One day I came to school with a new skirt on, this was very special as we did not have much money. I really loved this skirt, it was long and flowey with large flowers in various colors all around it. Her eagle eyes saw the new garment and prompted her to bee line over and make sure I knew that this new piece of clothing did not change my status. She proceeded to inform me that it was in fact a pretty skirt and if she were wearing all the other girls would like it, its to bad it was wasted on someone like me. She was a lovely person.
I eventually grew up and figured things out. I got a job, figured out my own style, and grew into myself, leaving her comments in the past where they belonged. What's crazy is that I carried a different kind of burden into adulthood. I allowed Christians with opinions on what I needed to do to if I wanted to be acceptable to God; as a woman, wife, mother and a friend, to weigh me down, steal my joy and alienate me from a relationship and community that God intended to give me freedom and joy.
It's as if they saw me wearing the freedom of redemption and felt that it was wasted on someone like me. They wanted to hand me a list of things I needed to in order to be acceptable and look more like them.
Satan is sneaky, cruel and mean. His goal is to destroy our churches from the inside, and keep us hurt, alone, and confused.
Our churches are no different than my sixth grade school yard. The cool kids, the nice kids, the nerds, the emotionally needy, the bullies and the wounded all sit side by side every Sunday morning. The bullies just like "my friend" love to share with others what they need to do to be acceptable, not only to each other but to God. They have decided that it is their personal job to share the "truth" as they see it with all those around them. They have deputized themselves on God's behalf, and unleashed themselves
on the church.
We need to protect each other, declare the truth and like the woman at the well declare "I met a man who told me everything I ever did, come and meet the Messiah". We need to serve each other in humility, knowing that none of us are able to rescue ourselves.

Romans 7:24-25New International Version (NIV)
²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,that in the ages to come He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7)

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” (John 14:6)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

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