Come As You Are
Are we simplifying things too much?
You know, the title of this article probably brings to mind a picture of some church sign. We see them all the time: “Worship service at such-and-such a time; COME AS YOU ARE!” This statement generally means two things.
The on-the-surface meaning that is meant to draw people in is that you don’t have to wear certain clothes, be from a church background, or be perfect to come to church. You don’t have to be well-to-do. You don’t have to have a certain color skin or be a certain ethnicity. The church won’t turn you away.
The second meaning, which is really a deeper meaning behind the first, is that Jesus accepts you as you are. You can come to Jesus for Salvation from any background. Just as the church won’t turn you away, neither will Jesus.
Both of these are true. I don’t have any problem with them. But — and I’m going to make some waves here — I really don’t like the saying “Come as you are” at all — at least, not as it stands right now.
There. I said it. And I meant it, too.
You see, I feel this statement that we use all the time doesn’t fully impress the truth on those outside the Church. Yes, Jesus will accept you no matter where or what you come from, but He does something else too. Jesus changes you. You can come as you are, but if you truly come to Jesus, you will leave changed.
Come As You Are
Ok, now that I’ve got myself in hot water with my intro, I’m going to now look at the biblical back-up for this statement. I’m going to use several passages, and will add a list of other passages that I don’t use.1
For I am not ashamed of the the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. — Romans 1:16 ESV
Salvation is for everyone! The disciples first proclaimed the Gospel to the Jews at Pentecost, and It has since spread to almost the whole world, including you and me! God offers His message, the Gospel, to everyone. And to all who believe He has given Salvation from sins. No matter your skin color, your ethnicity, or your nationality, you are offered this amazing Gift!
As Jesus went, the people pressed around Him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind Him and touched His garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround You and are pressing on You!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had immediately been healed. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” — Luke 8:42b–48
This woman had a lot going against her, maybe more than you even realize.
The health problem she had would have made her unclean in the eyes of her culture based on the Law of Moses (Leviticus 15:25–27).
You will notice that Luke says she had spent all her living on physicians. This would indicate that she was poor.
She hid herself from Jesus (or at least tried to). When Jesus asked who had touched Him, she denied it ( “. . . all denied it . . .” ), and only came forward when she saw that He would not let the matter rest.
Yet, despite all these things, Jesus still healed her, commended her faith, and let her go in peace. So whatever circumstances you find yourself in — health issues, poverty, or a past of running from God — know that Jesus will still be willing to welcome you and save you.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
— 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is patiently waiting for anyone who will come to Him in repentance. He is ready and willing to save; we just need to allow Him to. No matter what, He will accept you into His Kingdom.
. . . Leave Changed
“Ok. You just showed us a ton of biblical reasons that we can come to Jesus as we are, so why do you dislike the statement so much?”
As I said before, I would be fine with it if we added a bit. I think we desperately need to acknowledge this. We need to both let the lost of this world know, as well as a lot of the Western Church, that though we may come as we are, we aren’t supposed to leave that way.
You remember that verse we last looked at? The one from 2 Peter? I want you to notice the last phrase.
but that all should reach repentance.
(emphasis added)
When we come to Jesus, we must come repentantly. Now, obviously we can’t be, nor need we be, repentant of things beyond our control such as health problems or other such things. But when we come to Him, we need to be repentant of our sins. All our sins.
What do I mean by this? I mean that we can’t say, “Oh Lord, I’m sorry for my sins, especially when I stole that candy bar last week, but I’m not sorry I lied about it and haven’t taken it back or apologized. And You might as well forgive me for it twice, as I plan on going back next week to steal another.” (Ok. I doubt anyone would actually pray a prayer like that. But unfortunately, we often have this type of mindset in our hearts when we pray.)
NO! You can’t pick and choose what things we think are wrong and ask forgiveness for only those. Nor can we repent of a sin while having a mindset that since Jesus’ blood covers our sins, we can sin as much as we please since it won’t matter! Absolutely not! That would not be repentance at all!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. — 2 Corinthians 5:17
My friend, when we come to Christ and receive His Gift of Salvation, we become a new person. No longer are we a sinner, but as we see later in 2 Corinthians 5, we are ambassadors for Christ. We now live a new life free from sin so we can show honor and glory to the Lord through our actions! If we truly love Christ, we will not continue to consciously sin, but will do our best to show our love for Him through all we say and do.
I’m not saying that your life will automatically be perfect. Even the Apostle Paul slipped up sometimes.
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells within me.
— Romans 7:19–20
Here’s the truth: we’ll all fail at some point. But when we come to Jesus, we find that we no longer want to sin as we used to. Instead, He changes our hearts to want to do good for Him. And if you mess up, remember the truth which the Apostle John reminds us of.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9
If we fail and fall back into sin, Christ will forgive us as soon as we come running back to Him! He is ready to forgive!
So What’s My Point?
First of all, I would like to make a motion that we add to the statement: Come as you are. I propose that instead it should read, “ Come as you are; leave changed!”
Second of all, I want to encourage you to reflect on what I’ve said in this post. See if you have been living with a mindset that says, “Since all is forgiven, I no longer need to worry about sinning. I can do anything I want.” If so, I highly suggest you change your heart’s attitude immediately and get right with God.
Lastly, I encourage you to share these truths with your friends — both those who are saved and those who are lost. Let them know the truth about Jesus: that He changes people for the better! No one else in this world has the ability to do this, only Jesus!
Let’s Pray:
Lord,
As I come before You today, I confess my unworthiness. I am a sinful being. No matter how I try, I somehow always find myself returning to You in shame once again. Thank You, Lord, that Your grace is sufficient for me! I pray that You will change my heart’s attitude. Help me to want to do the good You would have me do!
For Your honor and glory I pray,
Amen
Related Songs:
Come As You Are — Michael Card
The Things I Used To Do — Patch The Pirate
He Made A Change — The Cathedrals
Jesus Loves Even Me — George Beverly Shea
List of passages (some of these passages could be separated into separate passages):
(This is by no means and exhaustive list of passages that point to Jesus ready to welcome and save all who come to Him. Feel free to share any othe passages that come to mind in the comments section!)
Amen, amen, amen, and a thousand times amen! I got all firey inside reading this, haha! I 100% agree with you! Come as you are, leave changed!
Very beautiful post, Melody! 🙌💐
I have the same dislike for the way the phrase is so often used without recognition of subsequent transformation (when it is wanting, in my opinion). I've toyed with some emendations to it as well, but if 'come as you are' is to refer to coming to Christ, leaving should never be in view, so I've come to something more like, "come as you are, to become as He is",* in that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ through sanctification
*I am a little wary of it bearing any resemblance to a Mormon phrase though ('as man is, God once was; as God is, man will become' I believe), so it may need some added clarification as to what it actually means to become 'like Christ'. 😄