jwestfall.com Blog

I like the sound of that: “Real Faith- Real People”.  As a skinny teenager in San Diego, I was sick of playing church, playing games and pretending that life was different than it really was.  Imagine my surprise when I was introduced to the most real Christian I had ever met.  Jimmy Johnson was about 6’ 3”, 130 lbs. with a huge contagious laugh, and a silver hearse that he drove around in.  Pastor Jimmy demonstrated with humor, insight and love that it was possible to be a Christian and be a real person at the same time.  He challenged my thinking, my stereotypes and my assumptions about life and faith.

I decided then and there that I wanted to be that kind of man and minister.  I haven’t always succeeded though.  There is an insidious corruption that infects many of us in the church.  It is rooted in our pathological need to be liked by people around us, and it leads to the sin of ‘people pleasing.’  Now I don’t know if it is a sin or if it is merely an addiction.  But the result is the same: death.  We look into people’s eyes and try to figure out what they want from us, or what they want us to be for them.  Then we follow a path that leads away from becoming the men and women God meant for us to be when He first thought of us.  Christian maturity always is demonstrated by our being more unique, more creative and more different than anyone else.

What has gone wrong in the kingdom when followers of Christ line up and march together like robots in a computer graphic enhanced action movie?  I think what has gone wrong is essentially fear.  When we desperately want to be liked, than we hold back our opinions, ideas, passions, questions and gifts because it might seem out of place.  We slowly find ourselves becoming less: less of our true selves and less of what God intends for us.  In the Bible there is a warning against becoming a church where we are known and regarded for our position and accomplishments, but “You have lost your first love.”

What would happen if you and I just stopped trying to please people?  And accepted the reality that God is pleased with us?

I believe that little by little the pressures to be like everyone else will chip away.  We will experience a freedom to be authentic and vulnerable even if it disturbs those who are infected with the terminal disease of pretense and lies.

Little by little there will emerge real people with real faith following Jesus step by step through the difficulties and celebrations of life.  When we bump into each other on the sidewalk, or perhaps in church, we will discover the joy of returning to our first love.