Failing with Family

As a phone conversation with my sister was winding down, she offered stinging final words after debriefing over some family drama: "Well, we all know you're the spiritual one in the family." I sighed an internal ugh, knowing that she really meant to say self-righteous one. In an attempt to defend what I thought she was implying, I launched into a stream of apologetic clarifications. In the end, it felt like an exercise in futility. I knew the reputation I had forged years earlier in much less sanctified times had never been forgotten.

The truth is that I had deservedly earned the title. As a young, arrogant, spiritually immature and self-assured believer, I had driven my nose up at my families' failures and displayed enough told-you-so-disappointment that I'm surprised they didn't excommunicate me altogether. It wasn't until I had experienced quite a few of my own failures that God thankfully shut down my pharisaical rantings for good. Looking back on those early days, I still feel ashamed at the ways I disgraced the name of Christ and the reputation of believers.     Continue at Ronnie Martin