Church Is One Messed Up Place

Church is one goofed up, messed up place.

The other day a Native believer was telling me about some of the negative experiences she has had with Non-native believers. They make inconsiderate and rude remarks about Native people and culture. There are times when she just wants to walk away and stay away from church. It’s too frustrating and hurtful. Non-Church attending Christians and unbelievers will often tell me that Church is full of hypocrites. I tell them that it’s way worse than they think. O, the stories I could tell them. The stories the Bible tells about the early Church are enough to make you wonder. Some days I picture God sitting in heaven, shaking His head and saying, “What are they thinking?”

In Acts we see two of the main Church leaders and missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, arguing to the point of splitting up their ministry and walking away from one another. We have people flat out lying to God and Church leaders right in public for all to see. We find Peter hypocritically acting one way with Jewish Christians and another way with Gentile Christians. In Corinth we have a man sleeping with his step-mother. Believers there had no respect for Communion or fellow believers. In Philippians we have two prominent women, Euodia and Syntyche, publically arguing with one another to the point that Paul has to plead with them to get along. The Galatian believers were about to abandon the principle of grace and try to please God through their self-efforts at observing the Law. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Almost everyone of the letters in the New Testament is a response to some problem or problems in a church somewhere. Revelation 2-3 lists 7 churches full of problems.

You know what I am talking about. You have seen it yourself. I have seen Christians who won’t talk to or look at one another. I personally know of three pastors who have had affairs, deeply hurting their churches, destroying their families and staining God’s reputation in the world’s eyes. I have seen power plays by desperate Elders seeking to build or hold onto their power base. The church I grew up in was called an apostate heretical church by another church down the street (although we both believed in the inerrancy of the Bible, the deity of Christ, the necessity of faith in Christ’s work on the Cross as our only hope of salvation and more). I could go on and on. So could you.

It’s sad, isn’t it? And yet I read in Ephesians 5:25 “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” In spite of all her problems, the Church is still loved by Christ. That means the people in the Church are loved by Christ. Of course, He does not love all the things people and churches do. But at the core you will still find Christ loving His Church. He calls her ‘His bride.’ She is His prized possession.

His goal is to “make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” according to Ephesians 5:26-27. Somehow, in spite of the people in churches, that is what Christ is doing and that is how Christ sees his bride.

So what are you and I to do? Well, for one thing, it’s not okay to just walk away from the Church simply because of the people in it. No, they are not perfect. But then again, neither are you or I. Somehow, we have to wrap our minds around the fact that “Christ loved (loves) the church and gave himself up for her.” We must let that truth absorb deeply into our thinking. And so let me offer the following four suggestions to help us live out this truth:

1. Learn to love the Church and the people in it (yes, including that person in your church/fellowship who drives you crazy.) We simply cannot love God without loving the people God loves. It’s impossible. If you don’t believe me read 1 John 4:7-11. STOP, don't keep reading this devotional. Get your Bible out and read 1 John 4:7-11.

2. Be patient with people. Remember James 3:2 that says, “We all stumble in many ways.” God is not done with you and God is not done with them yet. Perfection awaits for heaven. For now, it’s an uneven journey of faith and growth, of stumbling and getting up again. Colossians 3:12-14 says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

3. Pray and seek to find ways to make Church a better place. Begin with self examination and refection about your own life (Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Psalm 139:23). Maybe part of the reason that Church is such a goofed up place is because you are there. Looking at ourselves is always the most difficult place to start. But we must begin with ourselves first. And just maybe, possibly afterwards, in a very gentle, tactful and non-judgmental way you can go and speak to one of those other messed up followers of Christ about their sin so that their walk with Him can be more complete. Learn to be generous with your praise of others and stingy with your complaints and criticisms.

4. Gather with fellow believers. Yes, that’s right, attend church. That is the thrust of Hebrews 10:25 where it says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” It may not be a perfect place, but Church is still God’s place for personal growth and development. He still loves to “inhabit the praise of His people” (not persons). All churches to some degree are imperfect and dysfunctional. That is an unfortunate by-product of any organization that has as one of its primary entrance requirements that one be an admitant sinner. However, if your church is truly an abusive place, ask God where you might find a fellowship or gathering of believers that can meet your needs and that you can participate in and contribute to in a positive way.

Yes, Church is one goofed up, messed up place. Far more than any of us knows. But Christ still loves her. Christ still gave His life for her. So should I. So should you.