I Love the Church!

It seems to be popular these days to criticize the church. Some who have given up on organized church are even being hailed as "revolutionaries" by pollster George Barna.

I guess I am not much of a revolutionary since I freely admit that I love and need the local church.

Why do I love the church? Because almost every good thing in my life came through the church.

- I first heard the gospel at First Presbyterian Church.
- I Got filled with the Holy Spirit at New Covenant Church.
- I met my wife and got involved in world missions at Maranatha Christian Church.
- I raised my sons at Victory Christian Fellowship.
- I get to work with my best friends at an organization called Every Nation Churches.

I thank God for the church. The organized church. Even organized churches that are a bit disorganized. And, I  thank God for the the flawed churches like 1st Pres, New Covenant, Maranatha, Victory and Every Nation that helped shape my life. They are not perfect, but that didn't stop God from working on me through them.

The NBA used to have a commercial that featured spectacular dunks, ankle-breaking cross-overs, celebrity fans and buzzer-beaters. At the end of the commercial, players and fans would look into the camera and shout: "I LOVE THIS GAME!"

The news often shows the darker side of the NBA: drug suspensions, out-of-wedlock children, drunk driving arrests, strip club violence, etc. Some fans got so sick of the dark side that they began to vocalize their hate for the NBA, the game of basketball and all the players.

Others simply switched the channel and watched a respectable sport like wrestling. 

The are many church people who are following the example of the NBA-haters and channel-switchers. Some are so offended by religious scandals that they end up criticizing and attacking everything church. Others are so sick of religious hypocrisy that they roll their eyes and switch the channel anytime church is mentioned.   

Not me. I still love the Church. I love my church. And, I love the church down the street that has a different name and style. I still believe the church is or has the answer to almost every question or problem out there.

What about you? Do you still love the church?

I think God does.

Comments

[Mikey Llorin]

Great post Pastor Steve.

I think one thing that might need to be clarified (though not necessarily here, but everyone needs reminding again and again and again) is what exactly CHURCH is. It's the body of Christ. It's the people of God. It's the collective bunch of God's sons and daughters, that gather in different areas, and in different styles, and in different tongues, and in different tribes, and in different nations.

And if anyone truly loved God, then he or she certainly must love the Church.

[Hugo]

Lo mismo ha pasado con mi vida.Creo que Dios mira mucho mas allà de los problemas locales de la Iglesia.

[yinka]

Yes ps.Steve, I love church! I think church is fun. Growing up, i went to church every Sunday, sunday school at first then the big church where i was part of the choir. Getting to high school i went to church every sunday. In my Uni days i went to church every sunday even when there was nobody there to force me to go. I went on my own accord cos I could not imagine not going. I loved going, i learnt a lot. I think it influenced me positively, shaped my behaviour. I'm still going to church today 25 years after my B.A - I still love it. My kids are going too, following my footsteps. I hope they will teach their own kids one day to love and go to church. Church is great, church is fun. I love it

[kaloypanahon]

Hey Ptr. Steve,

My comments on this one: http://kaloypanahon.multiply.com/journal/item/43?mark_read=kaloypanahon:journal:43

God bless!

[Katherine Graham]

I think a lot of people are also wounded by church members or leaders and that also taints their experience of the church - things like condemnation or self-righteousness. But I do agree with you, Steve, and the other comments that I read: we need the church and God loves the church - so should we!
Katherine Graham from South Africa

[cindyandres]

I read it. The church is a FAMILY of believers, NOT the answer to everything you need. God IS the answer. I do agree that a church structure is needed not primarily to put order but to have spiritual family needs met (that come only secondary to biological family needs). Read the book by Jim Laffoon entitled "Building Authentic Community". It explains why we need to be part of a community (The church structure is one kind only. We should give respect to other non-structured revolutionary kinds, which also spread the Love of God relentlessly). It further suggests and even explains how spiritual leaders should be (Listening is a major part of this) in order to foster good relationships in a family of believers. Here is one of my favorites and I quote: "I will never forget the first time I was faced wtih choosing a church home. After 3 years in the Army, I had become deeply joined to a church in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I grew more at that church than at any other time in my life. And yet, my father and mother were still pastoring a small church in California --- the church where I had grwon up both physically and spiritually. I had preached my first sermon at this church, and it was there that I had heard God's call to the ministry. The people there were as close to me as my natural relatives. Yet in spite of all the ties I felt to that body and the incredible memories I had of my years there, I realized that I would never be able to fully accomplish God's will for my life in that setting. Sooner or later, you, too, may face a choice of that magnitude. Whether it is leaving the religious traditions of your childhood, or going to a church that does not have all of the programs or conveniences you are used to, when the time comes, finding the place where you can best thrive in your relationship with Christ must be your top priority."

[Janssen Morados]

Yes Pastor Steve, I love the church.

I love the church that has helped me know God more and more even now. I love the church that has helped my wife know God more an more... And now my children...

Yes I love the church even with my imperfect small group leaders who followed me up even though i was avoiding them, who helped me in my marriage and in the raising of my children. I love the church even with my imperfect pastors who continued to stand with me and provide me with godly counsel. I love the church even with the imperfect people who I can introduce my old friends and contacts to so as to help them start knowing God through these imperfect people.

And yes i love the church because no matter how imperfect i am, I am still family to them.

More comments to your blog on my site : http://janssenmorados.multiply.com/journal/item/7

[Keith Tower]

Personally, I am a big fan of both the church and the NBA. It takes more than a little negative criticism to move me from things that God used to help shape me.

[April Alario]

Thank you so much for loving the church, Pastor Steve, and for talking openly, both about its flaws and about how God works through it despite its weaknesses! I really needed to be reminded of this message tonight . . . I've been support raising in Boston (not an easy thing), and I've heard just about every reason there is why people don't want to give to this church, that church, or the other church. But through it, I've come to a conclusion and a resolution. I've concluded that, although it seems, as Jesus warned, that the love of most has grown cold, I continue to believe everything about love that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 - especially that love never fails! So, by the grace of God, I've resolved to love . . . especially those who aren't so on fire in their love for me, and by the grace of God, I expect that God will bring in a return from that love! Thank you for encouraging me to keep on loving, expecially those who are in the body of Christ . . . for as our Lord Himself said, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."!!!