The Church is not a place, it’s people – and it’s not always the people you want it to be.
The Church is another word for family. Brothers and Sisters reborn by the same blood, the blood of Jesus Christ. Children of the same Father, Almighty God.
The problem we often have is that our family separates itself up into little groups, little sub-families that we call ‘churches’. This can then distract us from the truth that we are all one big ‘Church’.
It’s easy to see ‘the Church’ as being the people who go to the same building as us every Sunday and dress up nicely and do and say all the appropriate things. The Church, however, is like any family… it’s a bit more messy than that.
You see, this is the Church:
- The Church is the guy you see begging outside of the store every day who loves God but doesn’t go to meetings any more because he’s embarrassed by the way he looks and smells.
- The church is that tattooed woman with all the metal in her face who you subconsciously pull your children away from in the fear that she might bite – or worse.
- The Church is the man who sits alone at home every Sunday because his wife died last year and worship was one of her favorite things and he just can’t face going to a worship service because they remind him of her too much.
- The Church is Pastor Fred, the pastor of the black church over in the ghetto who ministers in an area where you and I are afraid to even drive.
- The Church is my friend Eddie who should be serving life in prison for the crimes he committed as a gang member in his teens, who now goes regularly out onto the streets to try to change the lives of other gang members.
- The Church is that woman on death row who is getting the punishment for her crimes but who has found forgiveness for her sins through Jesus Christ.
- The Church is the pregnant prostitute who got sucked into a world she can’t get out of by circumstances we can’t even imagine.
- The Church is the Pastor who fell from grace because he got caught in sin and now he’s an outcast being judged by people whose sin is every bit as bad as his.
- The Church is the teenager who finds love in all the wrong places – and doesn’t find it in the Church.
- The Church is the disabled guy who no-one speaks to on a Sunday morning because they’re “not called to work with the disabled”.
The Church is all these people and more.
The Church is also the people who at least seem to have it all together, your friends and people you know who are in ministry.
We’re all the Church.
The Church is the people you like, the people you want it to be but it’s also the people you’d rather it wasn’t, the ones you wouldn’t choose as your family.
Fortunately, we don’t get to choose who the Church is. If we did, whole sections of the world, whole communities, races and people groups would get left out.
God is the one who gets to decide who the Church is and who it isn’t, not us.
We just have to decide whether or not to accept his decisions.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17 – emphasis mine)
Question: Are there people you’d rather not admit are part of the Church?
You are absolutely right, Peter. God chooses the church — what a mess we'd make of it if we tried to do the job. And He knows that.
Yes to all… isn't His love amazing?!
The Church is the young couple raised knowing right and wrong called out to seek God Himself.
Man. If I read all these at the Carnival today, it's going to hurt…
I love the church as you have described it here, and feel so blessed to be a part of yours. "God is the one who gets to decide who the Church is and who it isn’t, not us." I wish those words had come to mind as I wrapped up my post. You are exactly right, Peter. Thank you for your reassuring and encouraging words!
I break it down like this for my students. Jesus was walking down the road when a man shambles up to Him crying for mercy. Jesus doesn't flinch away when he smells the guy coming. Everyone else starts trying to tell the guy he can't be there but Jesus reaches out to touch rotting and diseased flesh. The man understands but starts to draw away. Years of being shunned, being told he is unclean, unworthy have taken a toll and he pulls his deathly pale hand back. Jesus steps forward pushing against those trying to keep him back, keep him "safe." He reaches out and touches this beggar … this pariah … this leper. The man flinches, the crowd gasps, Jesus smiles.
That is the church.
Peter,
This is so well put my brother, the Church has to be love with skin on it. I love this quote by Bridget Willard.
“Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.”
I say Amen to that!
Jay
There are a lot of people we need to extend the grace we have been given.
Amen. No more picking and choosing who we want and who we don’t! We push so many agendas and conformity issues that drive people away, and it breaks God’s heart. Lord, break us so that we can love Your Church more–more like You…
"The Church is the people you like, the people you want it to be but it’s also the people you’d rather it wasn’t, the ones you wouldn’t choose as your family."
Sometimes as I look around in 'churches' I see the 'cliques' like I'd see back in school. The 'cool' kids and the 'rich' kids, the 'holy' and the 'troublemakers'… what I wish I would see is one large group of God's children… where EVERYONE felt accepted!
Right on, man! I couldn't agree more.
i think that maybe we all can easily have too many of our own personal and human expectations of what the church is and what it is not. and that we can easily be led by those expectations instead of by God.
"…it’s people – and it’s not always the people you want it to be."
I love this. Isn't it just so human of us to want to pick and choose? And so divine of Father to pick a bunch of misfits like us?
Thanks Peter!
A couple years ago while I was doing preregistration for a youth retreat, I had a youth pastor call. I could tell she was hesitant to ask her question, but eventually, she had to.
"My Pastor wanted me to ask if Tara can come to the youth retreat. She's over six months pregnant and is obviously showing. The Pastor feels she will be a bad example to the youth at the retreat, but if you say Yes, he'll let her attend."
We answered a resounding, "YES! She can come! She's more than welcome!"
My sin and your sin is no prettier than Tara's sin. Why should she be excluded from ministry just because her consequences may be more visible?
TARA IS THE CHURCH! The Church is made up of sinful people will obvious and not-so-obvious consequences who just need to be given the chance to enter into God's presence, regardless of what they look like or where they come from.
Sorry for the mini-post, Peter! (But not sorry enough to delete it! haha!) Thanks for your post. It was wonderful!
I've always wondered what we would do if sin were worn in the open for everyone to see. Sure some people might have their sin blatant but most of us get to hide ours. Would we act differently to each other … probably. Would be behave ourselves … I'm not so sure. Certainly interesting that we like to point out visible sins so our sins aren't noticed though.
Amen! No more to add.
Thanks Peter for your post… 🙂
Oh my! How on earth did I skip this on Tuesday? Thank You Lord for RSS.
Any true, blood-bought, heart-belongs-to-Him friend of Jesus Christ's is a friend of mine. Even the smelly ones (whether literally or behaviorally). If I think I don't like them, I remind myself that I love them. And if I listen long enough to hear their hearts, I'll like them, too.
Is the church a homosexual? A gay couple? With children? Is the church a person who listens to Marilyn Manson?—Or is the church a place where those people come to "get help" and to "realize the truth" and "get saved" and "rescued" for being who they are. I wonder.
People in your "church" are only people who are willing to believe what you believe….. and get "saved"…otherwise they are just lost souls who you feel you are responsible to "save"…. and you'll allow people in your little circle but there will always be limitations, big or small. And that's the hypocrisy that never ceases to exist.