If Jesus loves the church, shouldn’t Christians do the same?
My pastor was recently recounting a conversation with someone who said she believed in God, but just didn’t go to church. Turns out that she had been to a church where there had been a lot of ugliness and she had left with her feelings hurt.
This, unfortunately, is not a new story. Just about anyone who has been a faithful churchgoer, long enough, has witnessed some bad behavior from people who are members. People are broken and broken items tend to have sharp edges. Sharp edges can cut you whether intentionally or not.
But, we have to remember that Jesus loves the Church. If Jesus loves the church, then who hates the church? Who has the most motivation to destroy it?
Yep, the answer is Satan. Each time a Christian walks away from church, there’s no doubt, demonic celebration.
And for our part, how can we write off every church because of the behavior of the people in one particular church? If a dog were to bite you, would you automatically assume that all dogs are evil? Nope, not if you are over the age of five. You might be more careful around certain dogs, but a rational person would never write off all dogs.
Yet, a bad experience in one church, often has us deciding all churches are bad.
The Bible tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17
As people of faith, we are called to sharpen and encourage one another. We are called to bring our collective gifts and serve God and one another. We are called to join together.
How does not participating in church help to grow us? How does not participating in church help us grow others?
It seems to me that our country and its people are divided now more than ever. It seems to me that the only way to reconcile differences, heal, and move forward, is through the love of Christ.
The best way to share that love and light is through the Church. My prayer is that as Christians, we make it our business to keep the pews full.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂