Does Jesus Accept You Just As You Are? Nope!

Many people will celebrate that Jesus accepts them just as they are; the problem is He doesn't. Indeed, He does not accept me just as I am. For many, this may shock them. "But I thought the all loving Jesus loves me as I am." He loves you, but does not accept you just as you are. That is the difference. This is what confuses people especially those who get their theology from the secular media. It is not what you find in the Bible, nor in the tradition of the Catholic Church.

How does this play itself in our own lives. Well, first you see the principle in your own lives everyday. Do you have a friend that is walking down a path to disaster or just a path that you find tenuous? You may love your friend, but you do not love the path he or she is walking down. You are worried for this person you care about. You love him or her, but you do not accept your friend unconditionally, because if you do then you would be enabling this person into what you perceive is disaster. This same principle plays itself also in our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus cannot accept you just as you are, because, I would assume that you have not reached the highest level of holiness in your life. He will always call you to a holier life to turn from sin and draw closer to his presence in our lives. He cannot do this if by chance He accepts you unconditionally the way you are.

Recently, I read on a blog of a person who attends a Catholic Church where she learned that Jesus accepts her just as she is. The person feels fully accepted by Jesus but also boasts living a lifestyle that is contrary to Catholic morality. The blogger is also a non-believer, a non-Catholic and even a non-
Christian. The obvious question is why is that person in a Catholic Church.

Jesus calls us to daily conversion and repentance and to grow daily in holiness. When we celebrate an attitude and a way of life that sees no call for repentance and no call to grow in holiness then we are ultimately not listening to Jesus. We become like people looking to buy hamburgers in an office supply store that sells "staples". Why are we there? If we find what we are looking for then we should be wary of it, just as I would be careful of eating a hamburger surrounded by boxes of staples.

There are other people whom Jesus outright rejected, even though He loved them. He called the pharisees children of the devil. His betrayer, He warned, would be better off never being born. He talked about people who would be better off with a millstone around their neck being cast into sea. He did not respond to two people who spoke to Him. He said He wants to vomit people who are lukewarm. In every case, He was dealing with people whom He did not accept just as they are, because they showed no inclination to allow him to enter their hearts nor to allow His love to change their hearts and to grow closer to Him. He loved each and in that love called each to repentance and holiness. When He was rebuffed he had no choice but to accept none. Those whom He did accept, He called to greater levels of holiness to the point of giving their lives for Jesus. Such people included Peter who betrayed Him and all the Apostles who abandoned Him in His hour of need.

Today's political movements are trying to create a Pollyanna Jesus who rubber stamps every human behavior in the world. This is not the Jesus who died on the cross for us. Such a Jesus would never have died on a cross because He would have been celebrated everyday for his approval of everything. Jesus is God and God leads His people to salvation but only if they choose to follow Him. Those who smile at Him and go their own way, do not find salvation. Indeed, if you look at Psalm 23 they end up alone in the Valley of Death by their own choice.

It is a misnomer to believe that we can do whatever we want and Jesus will just applaud everything we do. It is the Devil who applauds us at those times for when we walk into the Valley of Death, we have entered his reign and he congratulates himself for another soul conquered. It is Jesus who applauds you when you have done your best to daily draw closer to Him to follow Him. The applause you hear is from God and the Heavenly hosts who celebrate your heroic witness to His truth. It is then He who welcomes you into His kingdom.