careful what you ask for

Well, I have 1 good friend out there I guess. Ben, my voice of reason. I had kind of talked religion with him and told him where I was and this is what he wrote:


Are you in or out?
You don't have the option of sitting on the fence and saying you haven't made up your mind. You know as much as you're likely to ever know. Live as a Christian or don't live as a Christian, but stop being in the middle. If you aren't a Christian, don't go to church. If you're not sure you're a Christian, what is the advantage of not deciding? Is it really easier to live in the middle? If you're in, then accept grace and strive to live in the image of Christ. You can wallow in doubt all life long and that won't help your life be one whit better. That's not to say doubt is wrong, but what on earth is the advantage of living like you're in doubt? True or not, real or not, pick one world and live like that. If you're serious about Christianity, that should direct your actions first, not last. And hopefully it will leave a marked impact on your daily life.
NOTE: that is not the same thing as saying perfection is necessary. One of my best friends in college was a recovering alcoholic who messed up a lot in major ways. But even then it was clear that he had at his core a desire to do what was right and repent of what was wrong. It took years for him to see the full fruits of his conversion but he was always clearly on the journey. Are you?