The Purpose of the Church
"This is a big old ship, Bill. She creaks, she rocks, she rolls, and at times she makes you want to throw up. But she gets where she is going. Always has, always will, until the end of time. With or without you."
This is the opening quote in Phillip Yancey's book entitled "Church Why Bother?" It captures such a great truth for us today. No matter how many problems, how ugly, how plagued by the struggles of the flesh, the church/ the body of Christ has the perfect captain. I imagine on the Navy's finest captains steering the ugliest most ratty looking fishing boat and I laugh because the must be how frustrated God is with us sometimes. Sometimes the church messes up with people. Sometimes we fight about the most insignificant things. Sometimes we exclude people because they don't "fit-in." While I am not ok with any of these behaviors the fact remains that no matter how hard we might try the church will never be perfect as long as we remain on this Earth. Thank God we server a perfect Lord. Thank God that He is willing to forgive us despite our failure to quit serving ourselves. We must never give up on God and now more then ever for me that means that we must never give up on the church. After all the church is the bride of Christ. The church is the family of God and that means that as long as we don't' jump ship one glorious day we will be able to fully understand what is mean to be forgiven.
I often think about my own life and wonder how do I ever get to this point where I am a minister. The world says that Christianity is just an emotional crutch for those unable to deal with the reality of life without God, and those that are strong enough to do without religion should do without religion. I smile at the statement as much as it troubles me because the truth is that yet God is a crutch, well He is much more then a crutch, He is a life support system for those of us who chose to call Him Lord. He is a bridge from hopelessness to hope. From death to life. From life without a purpose to life with a clear singular purpose. I realize this because I am fully away that dependency is something that the church so be proud of. We need to depend on each other. We need each other in order to fight sin. More then that we need the Lord to take away that sin. I am quite comfortable with people that view me as weak because I serve the Lord and His church. There are some that will go throughout this life fully and completely dependent on no one else but themselves. Yet I hate to think about that day when they will realize I can never escape this ocean of sin without being on the boat. I dream of a day when people in the church will stop trying to pretend that everything is alright. That we are doing just fine. Let us celebrate our dependence on Jesus Christ. Let us be fully aware of our need to be a part of His body. We need Jesus Christ more then ever and I am proud to be on this boat no matter how much it might rock, creak and roll.
This is the opening quote in Phillip Yancey's book entitled "Church Why Bother?" It captures such a great truth for us today. No matter how many problems, how ugly, how plagued by the struggles of the flesh, the church/ the body of Christ has the perfect captain. I imagine on the Navy's finest captains steering the ugliest most ratty looking fishing boat and I laugh because the must be how frustrated God is with us sometimes. Sometimes the church messes up with people. Sometimes we fight about the most insignificant things. Sometimes we exclude people because they don't "fit-in." While I am not ok with any of these behaviors the fact remains that no matter how hard we might try the church will never be perfect as long as we remain on this Earth. Thank God we server a perfect Lord. Thank God that He is willing to forgive us despite our failure to quit serving ourselves. We must never give up on God and now more then ever for me that means that we must never give up on the church. After all the church is the bride of Christ. The church is the family of God and that means that as long as we don't' jump ship one glorious day we will be able to fully understand what is mean to be forgiven.
I often think about my own life and wonder how do I ever get to this point where I am a minister. The world says that Christianity is just an emotional crutch for those unable to deal with the reality of life without God, and those that are strong enough to do without religion should do without religion. I smile at the statement as much as it troubles me because the truth is that yet God is a crutch, well He is much more then a crutch, He is a life support system for those of us who chose to call Him Lord. He is a bridge from hopelessness to hope. From death to life. From life without a purpose to life with a clear singular purpose. I realize this because I am fully away that dependency is something that the church so be proud of. We need to depend on each other. We need each other in order to fight sin. More then that we need the Lord to take away that sin. I am quite comfortable with people that view me as weak because I serve the Lord and His church. There are some that will go throughout this life fully and completely dependent on no one else but themselves. Yet I hate to think about that day when they will realize I can never escape this ocean of sin without being on the boat. I dream of a day when people in the church will stop trying to pretend that everything is alright. That we are doing just fine. Let us celebrate our dependence on Jesus Christ. Let us be fully aware of our need to be a part of His body. We need Jesus Christ more then ever and I am proud to be on this boat no matter how much it might rock, creak and roll.
