Unfortunately, we have the same sort of mindset when we step into the meetinghouse on Sunday morning. We want to look absolutely perfect, all put-together, handling easily the crises of life along with our perfect families. Do we have any issues? Is our family actually dysfunctional? Are we battling sin and failing far too often? In fact, do we have a closet full of skeletons that we do our best to hide with a smile, nice clothes, and perfectly coiffed hair? And if we have all those things, why in the world are we trying so hard to keep them hidden? How will we ever get the help we need?
When I was growing up, I remember all those perfect looking people. And I also remember how shocked everyone was when suddenly a marriage fell apart, one of the men had an accident and was charged with DUI, and one of the sons of a "pillar" suddenly stopped coming to church after his high school graduation. What happened, we wondered. How could this be? They looked so perfect!
And that is what happens when we forget why God made the church and why we are supposed to assemble together. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24). Do you recognize that passage? It comes right before the one we quote all the time: "…not forsaking the assembling…" That is one of the main reasons for our assembling. Then we have half a dozen or more in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Thessalonians, and others I am sure telling us to edify, encourage, exhort, admonish, rebuke, and console. How can we do those things if we do not share our problems with one another? And who wants to open up to a person who puts on a perfect looking façade? It is too depressing to think you might be the only one with real problems, and to wonder what in the world is wrong with you when everyone else looks like a perfectly staged house.
A well-staged home is not for real living; neither is a Christian putting on a show. You can never help someone in trouble when you pretend to have your books lined up on the shelf in alphabetical order, potpourri wafting through the air, and a gorgeous apple pie sitting on the kitchen island without a scattering of flour on the floor or a smear of pie filling dripping over on the countertop. Be humble enough to help your brother or your sister. Be approachable and easy to talk to, sharing your own failures and problems and the methods that helped or did not help you. Who are you trying to fool anyway? God knows exactly what is going on in your life and your home. Be ready to help others and they just might be ready to help you too.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:1-2).
Dene Ward