I am a lying, proud, lustful, stealing and disobedient Christian that sometimes acts in rebellion, gets extremely angry and verge on hating people. I am a sinner. And I am telling you this because I have led society to believe that I am not.

This harsh realization came last week when I didn’t confess to killing a man (which an estimate of 17 000 South African’s are), but rather confessed to watching porn – something which a whopping 38.2 million South Africans is estimated to be doing.

READ Confession: I Conformed to the Porn Society

I was baffled by the reaction online. On Facebook people called brave, courageous and even a role-model. I received countless WhatsApp messages ranging from “thank you for standing up,” and “that took guts.” The cherry on the cake was when someone said “: James you are so brave, everybody used to think that you are faultless.”

Faultless. What have I done to receive this honor of being called ‘brave’ when, according to statistics, the majority of men (and women) are doing it. Why does it hit people with surprise that a Christian would speak out about his problems, when we all have problems?

I am ashamed to say this out loud, but Christians has successfully created the impression between themselves that they are perfect. I am ashamed to say this, but I have successfully created the impression that I am perfect. And no, this is not something that happened by coincidence. This is a conscious discussion made daily to post a smiley on Facebook rather than to confess that I am are struggling.

I am convicted about this reality, because when people gets stunned about someone confessing something that is supposed to be common, like porn, we need to ask ourselves if we are creating an environment where people can be real with each other. Or, are we just playing the same worldly game where we strap on a fake smile and say “fine” when someone ask how it’s going.

The reality is, that while the world chases after the Kardashian perfection, Christians are supposed to boast in their weaknesses. If there is one group of people who needs to come to grips with their imperfection, Christians needs to be that example. We say that we are so imperfect that we need God, yet is that the same story we tell the world? Or, do we post another selfie with 6 layers of make-up and a filter to match – do we hide our weakness in the dark or do we speak about them freely?

So, that is why today I confess to being a lying, proud, lustful and stealing sinner. I confess because I’ve helped lead the world to believe of Christians as perfection. I boast in my weaknesses, because no one should ever feel ashamed to confess to theirs. No one should ever think that they are the only one struggling.

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