Many Christians today are on a quest to find the perfect church where they won't get hurt, they can do whatever they want, they hear only preachings they want to hear and are surrounded by people who won't offend them. Maybe you're one of them today, and if you are I hate to be the one to tell you that you're looking for the equivalent of the fountain of youth.
Never has there ever been a perfect church ever in the history of Christianity. Pauls speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 11:28 saying, "And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches." Imagine that- even the early church made their leader anxious and stressed.
There is no such thing as an ideal church where the doctrine, people and ministry are perfect and complete because we are finite and limited people with limited knowledge, resources, capacity and grace. Here's a reality we must face: Probably the reason why Jesus told us to forgive so many times is because He knew we would become part of a church where we would often get hurt.
Ephesians 4:2-3 (NLT) says, "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace."
There's a reason why every effort must be made to keep the church united and why this was one of Jesus' final prayers before He died - because it's going to take nothing less than that. It's not easy to be a church, but we exist as a church because God commands it. John 13:35 declares, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Our identity and our destiny are found in the context of church community. When we aren't part of the church, we miss out on God's best. But just like anything in this broken and messed up world, this wonderful gift will have flaws. But the kinks of church fellowship are nothing compared to the return that comes from growing in faith, love and unity.
God calls broken, incomplete and stubborn people to be and make His church together. At the end of the day, it is Jesus who completes the church and makes us whole. As He promises, He will be strong in our weakness and be whole in our imperfection. God calls us to be part of a church community that is sometimes offensive, imperfect and less than what we expected, but it's because it's in fellowship that we grow better together and God's grace is fully revealed.
