They get it.

Growing up as the kid of a pastor was hard. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back I see why I walked away from my relationship with God and rebelled during my senior year in high school (and a couple of years beyond).

I lived constantly under the “eagle eye” of a condemning, judgmental church. I grew tired of church member’s criticism and complaints. It seemed I couldn’t do anything right.

But it wasn’t just me they were after. Anyone else who stepped through the church doors that didn’t fit their man-made mold of the perfect Christian wasn’t accepted into the “club.” Only perfect people were allowed.

From that point on, I decided that I didn’t want to be that kind of Christian.

Since those experientially formative years, God has grown me in leaps and bounds. I’ve been as judgmental as they come on occasions, but he’s strategically placed some people in my life that I have been able to learn from —people who get it—along the way that have showed me how to be a genuine Christ-follower.

These are the people who have ushered an unwed, pregnant mother into their churches and walked beside her through the loneliest, scariest nine months of her life.

These are the people who have sought out those who are down-and-out—the homeless, the abused, and the neglected—and offered up their time, counsel, and resources.

These are the people who have welcomed, encouraged, and prayed for a brother or sister struggling with the issue of homosexuality without compromising biblical principles.

These are the people—my friends, mentors, leaders, and confidants—who have been the ones that made me say, “They get it. They actually know, love, and walk with Jesus. They really do understand what grace means.”

They are the ones who live as Jesus did—without condemnation or judgment. They are the ones who take the hands of the unwanted and unloved, and walk with them through the junk.

I want to be like them. I want to seek out and minister to the not-so-perfect people. And when these not-so-perfect people meet me, I want them to say, “She gets it. She really does know and love Jesus. If this is how Jesus is, then I want to know him too.”

Posted on: http://josiahroad.com/article/they-get-it