Backslidden!!

I hate this phrase. I think it is a nasty filthy word. For those of you who don't know, this is a word used by Christians to describe someone who was once close to God but has failed in being a perfect Christian and so no longer feels particularly close to God. Personally I think it is a disgusting and accepted way for Christians to critisize each other. It is used to exclude people who were once friends and it is used to make people feel unworthy of existance, excluded from Christian society.

The God I know loves and welcomes everyone equally regardless of what they've done in the past or how long they've been going to church for. We are all struggling to get closer to God and there is no such thing as the perfect Christian. So putting a label on people considered not good enough is yet another way to divide the church and make people feel unwelcome.

Personally I think that the Chrisitans who 'backslide' are blessed more than the ones who don't because their faith has been tested and they've chosen to come back knowing that God is there for them. If you don't come back from sitting with the pigs then that is sad and if you never sit with the pigs in the first place then you don't know how to appreciate what you've got.

I know that I am less judgemental than some of the Christians around me because I am honest enough to admit to myself that I am not perfect and that I have made mistakes. But it's not the mistakes made that matters, it's what you do about them. Do you wallow in self-pity and give up on God or do you accept you're not perfect and the consequences of whatever you've done and come back to God? Or do you delude yourself into thinking that you have the perfect relationship with God already? I don't believe there is anyone who hasn't at some point 'backslidden', whether or not they are honest enough with themselves to admit it is a different matter, and if you really think you haven't then how do you know your relationship is real?