No Perfect People: Welcome Honestly and Keep Growing in Christ
Come to Christ honestly and help others do the same. His mercy gives hope to imperfect people and calls us to keep learning faithful obedience.
#323 — No Perfect People
May 20, 2024
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What does the welcome say?
A sign reading no perfect people allowed made me think about the person approaching a church building with shame or uncertainty. I didn't know everything that congregation meant. But I wondered whether a newcomer would expect help from fellow learners or judgment from people who thought they'd arrived. A sincere welcome should help that person hear about the Lord we also need.
We welcome people more honestly when we remember our own need. The gospel points toward Christ, rather than asking visitors to admire our record. A person should be able to hear both the hope of his mercy and the change his teaching calls for. It directs sinners toward Christ and the mercy found in Him. That truth should shape conversation, teaching, and ordinary attention to a visitor. The aim isn't a slogan that makes every spiritual condition acceptable. It is an honest invitation to learn from the Savior we also need.
Admit sin without excusing it
Romans 3:23–26 places all of us in need of God's grace through Christ. First John 1:8–2:2 calls us away from denying sin and toward confession and our righteous Advocate. We have reason to be honest without giving ourselves over to despair. The passages remove a basis for boasting in ourselves. They also give a reason for honesty rather than despair.
Nobody is perfect mustn't become an excuse for a wrong we're unwilling to leave. John writes so that his readers will not sin. When a particular responsibility is clear, our need for mercy should help us face it honestly instead of brushing it aside. Nobody is perfect can be a truthful admission of need, but it becomes an excuse when used to dismiss a known responsibility. If you have wronged someone, name the conduct and turn from it. Your need for mercy isn't permission to stop trying to live the truth Christ teaches.
Put confidence in the Savior
The message rests in a perfect Savior. It doesn't depend on claiming that every Christian or explanation is flawless. We need to keep studying and obeying while giving confidence its right place in the Lord and the truth he has revealed. Acknowledging that we can make mistakes doesn't make God's word uncertain or imply that all conclusions are equally defensible.
Make room for careful questions. If a visitor asks why you follow a practice, help them examine the Scripture rather than asking them to trust your reputation. A thoughtful answer can welcome investigation while showing that truth matters more than protecting the appearance of certainty. A Christian should be able to correct an error without feeling that every part of the faith has collapsed. Confidence belongs in the Lord and His revealed instruction. Humility belongs in the learner's willingness to examine whether a particular conclusion or action truly agrees with that instruction.
Trust his sufficient sacrifice
Hebrews 10:10–14 teaches what Christ's one offering accomplished beyond repeated sacrifices. Its assurance concerns his sufficient saving provision. We can trust that sacrifice without claiming we have become incapable of sin or completely mature in every part of our conduct.
Read the assurance with the rest of Hebrews 10. Verses 19–25 call us to draw near, hold fast, and encourage each other. The warning that follows keeps us from turning Christ's sufficiency into a claim that deliberate rejection no longer matters. We should neither weaken the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice nor use it to teach unconditional security regardless of later unbelief. The gospel provides a solid reason to trust Him and a serious call to continue in faithful allegiance.
Answer grace with obedient faith
Mercy calls for a response. In Acts 2:37–38, convicted hearers ask what to do and are told to repent and be baptized for forgiveness. They're submitting to the Lord who saves, rather than supplying a competing power of their own. Submission isn't a competing source of salvation. It is the response of people who trust the Lord rather than insist on saving themselves.
Don't tell people they must become their own savior before coming to Christ. Don't conceal his call to change either. A truthful welcome gives sinners room to hear the good news honestly, including the obedience by which they answer his gracious invitation. The gospel offers forgiveness to people who need it and calls them to turn from sin. It shouldn't conceal either grace or the obedience through which a person responds to the Lord's authority.
Hear maturity in its context
Matthew 5:43–48 calls us to love enemies and pray for persecutors. The instruction to be perfect like the Father belongs in that setting of love reaching beyond those who already return it. We need to hear that demanding application before reducing the verse to a slogan. The immediate concern is a complete love that reflects the Father's generosity. Reducing the verse to generic advice to try your best would miss that demanding context.
Other passages speak about maturity in their own settings. Colossians 4:12 records a prayer for believers to stand mature, and Philippians 3:12–16 shows Paul pressing forward. Read each passage for what it teaches instead of making one English word carry the whole explanation. Together these passages encourage continuing growth without making the same English word mean exactly the same thing in every setting. Ask what each text calls for, then apply its teaching carefully to the area where your conduct needs development. Mature love can therefore be examined in a specific relationship, especially one where goodwill isn't returned easily.
Make the welcome visible
A visitor learns about us through ordinary attention. Do we listen to an honest question, explain something unfamiliar patiently, and notice the person standing alone? Those choices can show that people matter before we've had a chance to say much about our welcome. Do you explain unfamiliar language without making the person feel foolish? Do you notice someone who is alone rather than assume another member will take responsibility? These ordinary actions can communicate that people matter and questions are welcome.
Humility doesn't require sharing every private failure or pressing a visitor to tell a painful story. Give kindness without demanding disclosure. Offer help with learning the gospel and be honest about needs that require more qualified assistance than you're able to provide. Give appropriate attention, respect privacy, and offer useful help in understanding the gospel. A congregation isn't a clinic simply because a hospital analogy captures the need for care; qualified needs still require qualified assistance. Let the illustration encourage compassion without claiming every member can meet every problem. A useful welcome also continues after the first greeting. Remember a question, provide the promised information, and make an appropriate introduction if the person would like it. Don't assume that one pleasant exchange has removed every uncertainty. Dependable attention can give someone room to learn at a pace that remains honest rather than pressured.
Stay humble enough to grow
Keep these truths together: we need mercy, Christ's sacrifice is sufficient, and his people must keep growing. Forgetting our need encourages pride. Forgetting his provision leaves us trying to save ourselves. Forgetting growth turns forgiveness into a defense of conduct that ought to change.
Choose a response the Lord's teaching has made clear. It may be an apology, a closer study, or more patient attention to someone's question. Take the step as someone grateful for mercy, without comparing yourself favorably with the person who knows less. Take the action with gratitude for Christ and a readiness to learn. Don't measure your value by comparing yourself with the visitor who seems less informed. Help them come nearer to the same Lord you are following. A healthy invitation is offered by people who receive mercy honestly and continue learning how to live faithfully in it. If your difficulty is mainly receiving correction, begin there. Ask a trusted person to identify a particular concern and listen without preparing an immediate defense. Compare the concern with Scripture and the facts. Being teachable doesn't require agreeing with every criticism; it requires allowing evidence to matter more than the need to appear already complete. Keep returning to His instruction with humility.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Do people have room to ask questions without feeling belittled?
- 02Where am I using imperfection as an excuse instead of responding to Christ?
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