What does it mean to be a faithful follower of Jesus? I have wrestled with this question for most of my life but especially the last few weeks. This has been a question that has led me to chronic despair because I have found that I continuously fall short of “faithful.” I always end up looking in the mirror and discovering that I am still dirty and broken no matter how hard I try to be perfect and faithful. Many of us are told our entire lives that following Jesus was all about performance. Our faith has been given to us with “do” and “don’t” rather than “it is finished.” Thus, we have come to live as if we can be good enough for God’s love and mercy, but I can promise you that Jesus did not die to enslave us further.

This became abundantly clear to me during a conversation with a dear friend this past week. As I thought about how we Christians have become so complicit in greedy capitalism, violent militarism, and exploitive politics, I struggled to find any grace for myself, knowing that I am more sinful that I will ever know or admit. Luckily, my friend reminded me of God’s “good news.”

The good news is this: there is no such thing as a faithful Christian. There are only unfaithful Christians who are redeemed and restored by the grace and mercy of Jesus. We generally think of our relationships with God in “yes” or “no” terms, meaning either we are a Christian or we are not. However, it is much better to think about our relationships with Jesus in “more” or “less” terms, meaning that we have been given the freedom to get as close or as far away from Christ as we would like.

Jesus even tells us that there is no one good but God. Luke 18:18-23 reads, “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.”

This rich ruler was asking the right questions, but he quickly finds out that in order to be “closer” to Jesus he must give up what he wants to keep. Most of us have the same issue. We ask the right questions and say the right things, which leads us to believe in our own faithfulness. Yet, Jesus reminds us that we are ALL unfaithful, and our only hope in experiencing salvation is by trying to minimize our unfaithfulness.

The Christian life is not about obtaining some goal. We can’t celebrate once we get to level 10 as if the game is over. No, the Christian life is a lot like archery. Jesus knows that we will never hit the bullseye, but the thing that matters is what we are aiming at. Paul reminds us in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” You will never be perfect. You will never be faithful. But we are called to aim our lives at Jesus Christ and the ways in which He lived in the world. This is what is means to be a follower of Jesus.

When we believe in our own faithfulness, two problems ensue. First, we tend to elevate preachers, pastors, and church leaders to an unhealthy pedestal of praise and affection they neither deserve nor desire. Trust me, preachers get tired of having to look perfect all the time…because we aren’t and never will be. Second, we also tend to demonize those who sin differently than we do. For years and years, “faithful” Christians have condemned the LGBTQ community, drug addicts, and pregnant teenagers to hell because their sin was so external, but they hardly ever condemned their buddies in the pew that gossiped, accumulated ungodly wealth, and turned church into a small business.

When we blindly accept our own faithfulness, we will find that we’ve missed Jesus. I have found that some days I can exceed the righteousness of my parents, family, friends, and even fellow ministers. Most days I do not. But when I place my fragmented life beside of the perfection of God’s son, I quickly realize that I am not as perfect as I think I am.

This isn’t anything to roll around in self-pity and despair about. Rather, this is something to celebrate, for we know that a perfect God has found us worthy of love. This also means that we should celebrate loving ALL people through compassion and solidarity with them because it turns out we are just as unfaithful as they. Don’t become intoxicated with your own goodness. Trust God’s goodness that covers all our sin, both known and unknown.

(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, Hunter Greene.)