Don’t Give Up On The Church

I love the church. I grew up in the church and have walked with several churches during several different seasons of life. Some of those seasons have been joyful and fun seasons of growth. Some of those seasons have been painful and hard seasons of loss. I think sometimes we are disappointed by the church because we forget who she is and who she isn’t:

She Is Not A Political Machine: The purpose of the church is not to further a political agenda. On the contrary, in Galatians 3 Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The church is not to serve the political agenda of the Republicans or Democrats, the church is to serve the agenda of Jesus.

She Does Not Primarily Exist To Serve You: Now don’t misunderstand me, there are times you will be served by your church. Times of loss, pain, hardship, and burn out. There will be many times you need to be served. You must allow yourself to receive. However, you are gifted by God and placed in a church by Him for the purpose of building up and serving the body. You are called to serve not just to be served!

Many people become disillusioned with the church because they are not being served. The reality is you and I are created to serve the body…so, dive in, serve, and I think you will find your church experience as you live out your true calling.

She Is Not A Concert Hall For Your Entertainment: We are entertaining ourselves to death in this culture. It’s easy to transfer that expectation to your church and come with an expectation that you will be entertained by your pastor. Now, the word of God is not boring and should never be presented as such but you get my point. The chief goal is not to be entertained.

When the chief goal is to be entertained we miss out on truth that might be challenging, difficult to understand, or difficult to apply. Sometimes those truths are the ones that make the biggest difference of all.

She Is Not Perfect: You will be hurt your church because the church is not a perfect place or a perfect people. For some of you, this your story. You were hurt, lied about, angered in some way. Some of it might be misplaced expectations, you thought it would be a perfect place and it’s not.

I think when these expecations of perfection,. entertainment, service, and politics take hold of our heart and our mind, it is easy to become discouraged, disillusioned, and disenfranchised. It’s easy to leave the church. Today, I want to remind you of what the church is and how beautiful she can be. So, what exactly is the church:

The Church Is A Bride: Specifically, the Bride of Christ. So, one of the sweet spots of the church ought to be pointing people to Jesus. Certainly Jesus is pointing people to the bride. He loves the bride and gave Himself for her. Jesus wants to see every person involved in a local church. The Bride does the same thing. Jesus points people to the church and the church points people to Jesus. He loves them, cares for them, forgives them, and can change them. The church must, rigidly, hold to it’s mission of pointing people to Jesus.

The bride metaphor also reminds us this is a relationship we are involved in and not an institution we join. We give up on institutions. We cancel memberships. We forgive in the context of relationships. Forgive the bride.

The Church Is A People: We need the Holy Spirit from Jesus but we also desperately need other people. This is one of the primary ways the Spirit works….through others in the context of church. There are not that many places in the world where you can still connect with live people, the church is one of those places. Every week, in communities all over the world, people are encouraging each other, praying, offering advice, exchanging Scripture, and well, being the church.

The Church Is A Body: The Apostle Paul uses this metaphor in the context of serving. You are a part of the Body of Christ. God has gifted you and placed you in a specific place at a specific time for a specific reason. I believe this with great passion. You are a part of the body of Christ for the purpose of difference making. If you are a mouth, serve others well with words of encouragement. If you are a foot, serve others well by going to them and meeting their needs. If you are an ear, serve others well by listening to them.

The church isn’t perfect but she is beautiful. She is worth investing in. She is worth serving. She is worth another chance. She is worth showing grace.