Is this my song?

There are two songs that have been my favorite christian songs for four or five years and when I hear them, they can take me back to when I first discovered them when I first went to a christian youth group. The two songs are Audience of One and O Praise Him. I can remember listening to Audience of One on repeat for such a long long time. Here are some lyrics ...

I come on my knees
To lay down before you
Bringing all that I am
Longing only to know you
Seeking your face
And not only your hand
I find you embracing me
Just as I am


I think what I liked so much about Audience of One was the acceptance in the words, "I find you embracing me - Just as I am."  And that is after "bringing all that I am." I think those are the words that many churches could learn a lesson from. For example: a church that I have gone to, I could not become a member of. I am excluded from that title and group, not that I would want to be a part of it anyway. And it is all because I don't "[adhere] to [the] standard [that] should be the norm for a follower of Christ." That is what in their opinion is the "norm" for a follower of Christ.  Or what they think "should be" the norm.

However, all churches seem to have a different opinion of exactly what the "norm" is for a follower of Christ. When I was in middle school, I underwent a mission to try to define "normal."  I asked friends, family, and random people in chat rooms on the Internet.  I engaged in some really awesome discussions and some that lacked maturity. My findings confirmed that normal really depends on who you ask and varies based on the individual characteristics of the person answering the question. So it goes without saying that churches will vary their definition of the "norm for a follower of Christ" based on their own individual characteristics.

Of course all this begs the question, Jessica why on earth are you going to a church that would exclude you from their definition of the norm when there are so many churches that would actually accept you and all that you bring? And my answer is that I don't go to church for other people. Sure, I could find a church that lines up more closely with my own beliefs and sometime in the future I may go to one, but I go to church to worship and god embraces me just as I am after knowing all that I bring god embraces other people after knowing all that they bring. As different as my beliefs may be from other church goers, ultimately we are all there for the same reason.

I think the true "norm" for a follower of Christ can and should be found in the lyrics of this song. Can't we just embrace people for who they are?

And I say that, knowing that I don't like how the language of a "norm" will always exclude somebody.  Because the language of a norm or normal implies that some will not fit into that model. And having experienced the view from the margin, I would hate to marginalize anyone.