Stop Talking Badly about God's Wife

The man said, "I really do believe in God and Jesus, but I hate church." The irony underlying the conversation hit me hard. How could I, a man who has spent his entire adult life working for a church, speak honestly about his statement?   I understood what he meant though, for I, too, have found myself despising parts of organized religion. I confess that there are days when I am seriously tempted to run away from religious enterprise to do something really 'spiritual.' Lots of people who believe in Jesus Christ are abandoning His Church.

They point to the politics that get mixed up with the Gospel. The platform of a party get tangled up in the proclamation of Christ’s Kingdom. I agree that making a political view a litmus test for ‘real’ Christianity is an error but, should not our deepest convictions about life find expression in the kind of nation we desire? The things Jesus talked about: compassion, justice, expressing the love of the Father to others; are connected to real life and will affect the way we vote. If we erect a high wall between our faith and our politics, as some would insist we should, our faith becomes worthless Sunday sentiment! As James says, “Faith without works is dead.” (2:26)

Some point to the conflict of science and the message of their church. Arrogance abounds on both sides of that issue! Those who insist on only one interpretation of the Genesis story are rigid and doctrinaire, but so are those who dismiss the Scripture’s story because of a scientific theory that becomes like Gospel to them. Humility will keep the dialogue going. True science has nothing to fear from faith, nor does real faith turn a blind eye to honest inquiry!

Others point to the money thing! “All the churches want is my money.” Yes, it's true that churches need money, just like government, business, you, and me! It’s a cheap shot to focus on the few celebrity preachers who lives extravagantly at the expense of their congregation as the norm. Most people who serve in church ministries are compensated in a way that is far below what is common in the secular world. And, they do so gladly. Their reward is not earthly treasure, but changed lives.

Other canard hurled at the Church repeatedly is about the hypocrites that live in her. Do all Christians live their faith fully and authentically? Nope! And, I’m one of them. I fail to live up to my aspirations too often. I'm sometimes less than loving. I allow fear to overtake faith. I misjudge others. I become the victim of my own preconceived ideas. Does this make me a hypocrite? I don’t think so. Why? Because, I am, like all Christians, a 'becomer,' a work in progress, growing in Christ.

If you're throwing stones at the 'hypocrites' in the church, watch out, because your own inconsistencies are likely to be revealed sooner or later. Yes, it is true that in some churches image has overtaken substance, tradition is worshipped on a higher level than God Himself, and where conformity to the accepted rule is king! But, don’t confusion failure to perfectly live the Christ-life with hypocrisy.

And, many claim that church is irrelevant to their life. What exactly does that mean?

We are called to Christ and that call can be difficult to accept, hard to understand, and require profound change in us! The message of the Church should not comfort us or fit neatly into our cultural norms. It should disturb us, irritate it, and compel us to become holy people, who will be seen as ‘irrelevant, out of touch’ by those who are not lovers of God. Too much accommodation of the culture destroys the distinctive quality of a Christian’s life. Our calling is to be 'the salt of the earth.' The Christian who has become 'worldly' no longer functions in that way.  

The church isn't just about being relevant. God has given the Church (and Christians) a message of transformation that conflicts with the sins of whatever culture into which it is spoken! A church that is so compromised by a search for relevance has lost her voice to call people to live in love, in mercy, in justice.

Who needs to be a part of the church? Every Christian!   The Christian life is not a “Lone Ranger” one.   The highest and best spiritual life is not lived in isolation from other disciples. Christianity is a communal experience according to the will of God. We abandon His Church to our own peril and in defiance of His command ‘not to forsake the assembling of the saints.’

Here’s the word from the Word: "God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best. A body isn’t really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That’s why the eyes cannot say they don’t need the hands. That’s also why the head cannot say it doesn’t need the feet.

In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, but we don’t have to be modest about other parts. God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy.

Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body." (1 Corinthians 12:18-27, CEV)

Want to be the best Christian you can be? Commit yourself to the church Christ loves as His Bride. Stop talking badly about God’s wife! Work at it. Give your all, for God's sake.

The Bible says that the results will be simply amazing: "we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love-like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love." (Ephesians 4:13-16, The Message)