I had one of those revelations yesterday that has stuck with me all day today. I was talking to a friend at a homeschool activity and she was in the midst of an "abrasive" situation with members of her church administration. She was obviously in the right, but due to partial truths that were told, she was chewed out, and they wouldn't listening to her side of the story. I just made the comment rather flippently that I have made so many times in the past..."Don't you wish Christians would act like Christians?"
For some reason, God kept that at the forefront of my mind as I left the building. Then it came to me 
...You know, Christians ARE acting like Christians. We are not perfect. We don't "know it all." We often jump to erroneous conclusions because we don't want to spend the time or effort get the whole story. We lie. We think that because we're Christians God will somehow look down on all our good intentions mixed with the "little bit of not-really-bad sin" and smile because He "understands" that at least we "meant well" or we were trying to be a good steward of "His things." Why should I expect someone else to be perfect when I am not?
WOW! And then this popped into my mind..."I don't expect you to act like a Christian. I expect you to act like CHRIST." Then I started recalling some of the awful things that the people in the early church did. Gross immorality, lying, stealing, pride, revelry, drunkenness...I couldn't recall all the other things they did without opening my Bible (which I was not about to do driving down the road at 50 mph 
). Yet, God was continually at work in their lives, and the apostles were continually "calling people out on the carpet" both in person and in the letters they wrote. And there were true changes of heart that you could see from one epistle to the next. (see I Cor and II Cor)
We need to be going to God and confessing that we have come short of being like Christ. We need to be gently dealing with others in love when they are habitually not like Christ. (Tip:...It is better to postpone dealing with them, than to have very little love when doing it.) We need to allow ourselves to be held accountable to others without getting defensive. Obviously, if someone finds something wrong with what we've done, we need to first ask God to help us objectively seek out if we truly did that...then if we did, repent and ask forgiveness...or if not, (this would be the instance of the "accuser" not having all the facts), make sure that what we have done does not violate Scripture and explain to the person what they have missed (if they are willing to listen). Above all, we need to make sure that we are pleasing God and not man.
It is so hard, because I know that sometimes I jump to conclusions with my kids..because I "KNOW" that ALL of them were horsing around when I had my back turned and so ALL of them need to have 5 minutes to sit quietly on the couch not moving, or speaking to learn how to act "properly" inside a house. 
When in actuality, I just didn't feel like being distracted from whatever I was doing to deal with them like Christ would. OUCH!! 
God is so patient with us. He always knows what we need. He always knows what is really going on in our hearts. I can't imagine Him snapping at me and yelling "SIT DOOOWWWWN!!!! DON'T MOVE OR SPEAK!!! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT MOVING OR SPEAKING UNTIL I SAY OTHERWISE!!!" That actually made me laugh to think about that. (...Right after I was convicted that I was wrong.) I can't imagine Christ being so engrossed in scrapbooking or email that he would have snapped impatiently at Peter instead of taking the time to identify the most effective way of correcting him...and doing it. (Actually I can't see Christ scrapbooking at all...and I blame that on the movie Jesus of Nazareth I used to watch on TV as a kid. 
)
Boy, do I have a long way to go....But then again, every time I think that someone I know is so "close to perfection", God allows me see that they have a long way to go too. I don't rejoice in that, but I get so down on myself for not being able to "do it all" or be "perfect." Those little glimpses of imperfection in others help me realize that I shouldn't place "men" on a pedastal to "look up to them." Christ wants that pedestal. He doesn't want me to try to emulate others who will stumble and fall and try to be like them...He wants me to be like HIM. I love what Paul said... "Imitate me, as I imitate Christ." He meant for us to be like him ONLY when he was like Christ. He KNEW he wasn't perfect, and that as much as he tried to be like Christ there were times when he would fall very short and didn't want to take others with him. (See Romans 7)
I certainly don't want to encourage Christians to give up striving for "perfection"...I just hope to encourage others to change their focus from earth to heaven. When we expect Christians to "act like Christians," we focus on man and and what man can do...which can lead to judgemental, prideful attitudes...just like the Pharisees. But when our focus is to be like Christ, we become more heavenly- minded and, in turn, become more patient with others imperfections....seeing that God can accomplish the "impossible" through us when we desire to be like Him.
Off to watch Singin' In the Rain with the kids... It's been quite a day... 
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