Showroom Floor Christians

Perhaps the title is a misnomer: this article is not about how some people put on a show about their Christianity, but rather how some people view others that go to church, or at least try to go to church to live a better life. Christians know that living for God is a daily chore. I use the word “chore” because there is work involved in trying to be a Christian. We all know that it’s a daily, and sometimes, hourly struggle to overcome the temptations of this world. We’re all sinners, born into a world of sin. But by the grace of God, and with the help of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can make it through this life.

Too many times, at least I find myself doing this, I will ask a person where he goes to church, and when he replies I find myself mentally finding fault with him and his church. Why is this flaw in my nature? Do any of you find yourself doing the same thing? Do I really think that just because a person goes to church somewhere that he should be perfect? I go to church and I’m not perfect. Does this mean that the church that I attend hasn’t done anything to help me? Not at all! The Church I attend has been a great help to me. It has been a blessing and a strength to me in every way. The church is what is helping us to make it through this life. Christianity is a journey, not a destination. And the church is not the destination; it’s the vehicle that takes us to that destination.

Christians are not the models you see on the show-room floors. They are not the “new car,” with its new car smell. They are not the “perfect sofa” that you see on display in the furniture store window. They are not the “thick, juicy steak” that you order from the fancy restaurant in town. They are not the “million-dollar house” that was just built in the neighborhood. Rather, Christians are the factories where that car or piece of furniture was built. They are the slaughterhouses where that cow was killed and cut up. They are the framing of that new house, with its crooked studs and concealed flaws. Christians are not perfect, but rather a work in progress. Christians are never the finished product, at least not in this world.

If you ever saw how that chair was put together, with the split lumber tied together with wire or duct tape, and how they cut the material too short but patched it over with a different cloth, you would never buy it. Or if you watched that automobile being assembled with all the mistakes and the times that this piece or that component had to be taken apart and put back together, you would wonder how that car ever stayed on the road. Or if you watched as they slaughtered that cow or pig and cut it up you would probably go vegetarian for a while.

But that’s how Christians are. We’re the factories where all this work is being done. We’re a work in progress, not a finished product. They will always find and replace parts on this work I call “me.” Hold me together with duct tape and baling wire, I don’t care; just hold me together. Keep me in the factory a little bit longer; just make sure I’m in one piece when I leave. Do whatever it takes to make me what God wants me to be. It’s not so important that I go out onto the show-room floor, but rather, that I stay in the factory to make sure that everything is all right before I do go.

Help me Lord, to not look at people and expect perfection from them. None of us are perfect. None of us are show-room models. If you see a flaw in our character, it’s okay. Pray for us.