After 35 years of the good, the bad and the ugly I can still say thank God for the Church.
I know, I know, there is a lot wrong. No question about it. The church can make us cringe from its oddities, cry for its failures and rejoice for the love it extends, all in the course of a single day. There is nothing on the planet like the church. Jesus opens the door and lets anyone in and it is very frustrating. If all the broken people wasn’t enough you have the ones who think they have it together and are always mad at us for not being made into their image. All in all its a royal pain and makes me question the need for it all.
Yet, it is God’s people in all of their glory and gore, stumbling toward Jesus that are the very expression of Jesus in the earth. While the failures of the church are real, there is Jesus in the middle of it all being glorified, worshiped, and followed. He is the one saying this is my body, I have chosen this way, and these people to express myself. I seem to remember He once used the jawbone of an ass to speak, so I guess it makes sense.
I have seen the unlovable loved, the hungry fed, the depressed cheered, and the friendless befriended. I have seen the very life of Jesus transmitted by the encouraging words of faith, hope and love that come from the followers of Jesus to a listener that will hear. Sometimes over the objection and yelling of “church”people but it happens none the less.
I have issues with what people do in the name of Jesus and in time I will be talking more about those but I love the church of Jesus.
I have many questions about how church is done and how much of it has anything to do with Jesus. I hope to interact with people on here so that I can learn more but I am confident that Jesus reigns over His church.
I see the ugly things that make us all question why we even bother, but over the decades without fail I have seen the beauty of Jesus shine through the worst of it.
It is true that the church fails badly, perhaps even most of the time. It is not hard for me to understand. I am part of the church and I fail most of the time. Yet, there is so much of Jesus I can only get through his church. In the sharing and loving and encouraging of one another I see Jesus in flesh and blood and that is church. Just as I know that Jesus will keep working on me until I am like Him, He will be with His church until we are united with Him. After 35 years of the good, the bad and the ugly I can still say; thank God for the church, because He is there.
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Tags: Christian Church, church, church jesus, God, Jesus, life of jesus, Religion and Spirituality
