One of our readers once wrote that she had bought a number of books to help inspire her along the way but none of them had done the trick. “These writers are good Christian people,” she observed about the authors, “and are helpful to so many people… I just wish I were one of them.”
I bet everyone has felt this way at least some of the time, and I bet others feel this way almost all the time. That book, devotional, study guide, seminar, retreat, or church service was helpful to so many people; I just wish I were one of them.
Here’s what makes this even worse. A lot of people are acting like they are one of them for whom it is working, when deep down inside, they know they are not. This is when playing Christian can be so damaging.
Being around real Christians should be a little disarming, like being in the company of a whole bunch of people who can’t believe they got in, know they don’t deserve to be in, and can’t wait to find out what happens next. This kind of astonishment and anticipation is the permanent possession of a true believer.
Church is not a building full of beautiful people who hide a secret that the Christian life is working for everyone but them. It’s a community of folks who know they shouldn’t be there in the first place, and yet they got there through no merit of their own, and because of that, they are ready for anything.
There is power in conformity; we just need to decide to what we will conform. Will we all conform to being something we are not, or will we make a corporate decision to be who we are, whatever the cost, and let Christ be the one who conforms us to His image as He sees fit?
You don’t have to wish you were anything other than what God wants you to be. Jesus found you the way you are, and He works on you from there. No book, devotional, study guide, seminar, retreat, or church service can do what the Holy Spirit is already doing in you.
John Fischer The Catch 
Amen! In our culture, we *LOVE* our “steps” and “systems” and “formulas”. Unfortunately, people are messy, and that makes life messy, too. Our lives are not machines, nor equations, or formulas. We can’t expect to make the mess go away by implementing steps, or following a program. Perhaps, instead, we should embrace the mess and rest in the knowledge that God is at work in our mess.
John I am overwhelmed by how important your devotionals/observations/lessons are in my life. I struggle often with “I wish I was one of them” thoughts as I engage with my christian family (church and biological). I have always felt disappointed with myself after conversations that enlist smiles, nods and ‘amens’ from most people but leave me feeling angry or lonely. I’ve reconciled with myself that it is simply my ‘right-brainedness’ that is not compatible with linear main-stream Christian thinking. (to the extent that I had a fierce running e-mail dialogue with the ‘office of the president, James Dobson’ where I challenged him on Republican Party’s ‘unchristian’ behaviour during the primaries and in-particular his and other christian leaders’ audacity to endorse certain candidates based on a very narrow parameter and ‘personal’ biases. I dug in deep with constitutional separation of church and state etc…. and I’m just Canadian!) My christian friends/family think I’m likely subversive – I’m not sure I mind that.
Then today – you said, “A lot of people are acting like they are one of them for whom it is working, when deep down inside, they know they are not. This is when playing Christian can be so damaging.”
I then realized that I wasn’t playing along. I say what I think, even if it’s not popular and maybe not even ‘Christian’ sometimes. I ask God every day for patience, love and the mind of servant-hood so I can be less and Jesus be more in whatever circumstance. I’m sure I screw up a lot, but, the other day, while gardening, my young daughter-in-law asked me how it is that I can smile with the load of stress and pain I carry. She asked me if it was something about my faith that made her feel warm and loved around me even though she knows I have a lot on my mind and living life is hard. I said, “yes, what I think you’re feeling is Jesus. I explained to her how I could not cope if I didn’t know that He is with me always and there’s no fear because I’m not alone.”
She wanted to know more and told me about the emptiness and fear in her life despite a happy marriage, lovely children and good health. I told her life was so much more than that. So we are having an ongoing dialogue, I’ve given her a couple books and I’m sure she will embrace faith in Jesus very soon.
I may not be perfect, I certainly don’t follow strict the religious practices I was raised with (ie. do not become involved with ‘the world’). I am coming to understand that God made me like I am for a reason. I don’t need to conform in order to let Jesus work through me. WHAT A CONCEPT!
You are being conformed… to Christ! Thanks for sharing this with us. A Christian non-conformist. Now there’s a concept too!
Need to add an Amen to all of today’s Catch, yet this is really spot on: “…wish you were anything other than what God wants you to be. Jesus found you the way you are, and He works on you from there. No book, devotional, study guide, seminar, retreat, or church service can do what the Holy Spirit is already doing in you.”