How can I follow Christ when I don't like Christians?

This week I keep asking myself the question "how can I follow Christ if I don't like Christians?" Now it's not all Christians by any means that tick me off. And if you're even reading this post, I'm guessing you probably have been annoyed or mistreated by a few Christians yourself. I think there's a certain subset of judgmental, socially awkward and insecure individuals who do the most damage at any church. Always on their high horses looking down. Sheltered people who know the rules but not the grace of Christianity. A lot of them were raised in a very sheltered atmosphere, but it seems to me that a fear of leaving that safe shelter keeps them from experiencing a lot of things. It's the equivalent of being book smart while completely lacking any street smarts. They know the Bible very well, but they don't understand people. Unfortunately, some people are still feeling intimidated by this group because they might be newer believers and don't know the Bible as well.  To give this subset a name, I'm going to refer to them as High Horse Riders or HHR's. 

The biggest problem with the HHR's is that they have a true desire to serve God, but they usually lack necessary social awareness and are nearly devoid of empathy. They really don't know how to relate to anyone who has made different life choices than they have. This lack of social skills and empathy drives them further up onto their high horses from where they can continue to look down and judge.

The saddest thing is that the HHR's stuck in this cycle realize on some level that they're missing something. I don't know how the church got to a point of nurturing so many socially awkward individuals further into their awkwardness, but here we are. Some feel lonely because they don't know how to connect with anyone. Some are just deep in their own feelings of insecurity that they don't want to admit. They know that as Christians they're supposed to feel whole, healed, loved and accepted. So when they feel less than that, they ignore the emotions. Maybe it's pride. Maybe it's confusion. But it isn't God. God is not calling people to sit on high horses pretending to be the perfect epitome of holiness. He isn't calling them to hide their own hurt.  

If you're not recognizing any of these traits in yourself, you're probably thinking of a short list of people who do these things- you know, the ones for whom you secretly want to slap the smug smiles off their fake faces!

Now, if you were just deeply offended that I would insinuate your desire to slap someone, then GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE! 

In the Bible, we saw these same insecure, judgmental, holier-than-thou high horse riders, and we called them "Pharisees" and "Sadducees." They were the ones calling out Jesus for spending his time with dirty sinners and healing on the Sabbath. How dare Jesus show love and grace to people who weren't already perfect?!

The first step in getting off that high horse is getting over yourself. Get over what people might think of you when you admit that you have faults and negative emotions. Guess what? Most people already knew that about you, but when you admit it two things can happen. 1. People will like you better because you're being authentic, and 2. You can actually process and move past whatever negativity you're experiencing. 

You know that phrase about "the first step is admitting you have a problem"?, that definitely applies here. 

This world does not need one more fake-perfect Christian! We need authenticity. Authentic expressions of our emotions and our problems- even when they seem too ugly to love. God has a deep authentic love for us no matter how deep we are in our own mess. His grace is enough to cover all of us, but the one thing he's waiting for is that we ask for it. So let go of whatever is holding you back. Quit pretending you're perfect-because you weren't fooling anyone anyway! If you really want to serve God, you'll have to know more than the Bible. You need to know people. Go break bread with some heathens!