I want my church to be perfect,too

People tend to idealize most things.  Sally envies Jane’s marriage even allowing herself to think how much better life would be if only she had a husband like that.  In the dead of winter, we are sure that a vacation to the island of Bimini would make everything better.  More than one Christian has thought that if their pastor were as wise as Charles Stanley, as full of smiles as Joel Osteen, and as theologically deep as John Piper;  they would miraculously become a super-Christian.  And, my favorite idealization:  “Why isn’t our church like the one in the book of the Acts?”  We are taken by the description of First Church in Jerusalem. In Acts 2 we read "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." (Acts 2:42-43, NIV)  Who wouldn’t like a church like that?

It’s a nice picture, but it’s just one snapshot of that generation of Christians!  Read the whole story. A couple of chapters later those Christians are fighting furiously over circumcision and   Law.  Relationships were broken over whether one could truly call himself a follower of Christ if he did not observe the Sabbath, eat kosher, and submit to circumcision. The assumption that Gentiles could not become true Christians persisted in the Church for at least two decades.  That church had hypocrites, too. Ananias and Sapphira sold some property and pretended to give all the proceeds to the apostles, while keeping some in reserve.  God judged them on the spot and they dropped dead in the Believer’s gathering. Imagine if he struck all the hypocrites in church dead on this Sunday! There would be a lot of funerals in the following week.  There was favoritism, too.  The widows from Jerusalem got cared for more generously than the widows from out of town.  The issue led to the creation of the first board of Deacons. (see Acts 6)

The leaders of First Church were flawed, too. Paul and Barnabas were ministry partners, spiritually gifted in complementary ways. Their team  worked.  Paul was hard to get along with, smart, and a real teacher. Barnabas was beloved, a people-person that others related to easily.  Then, they had a fight over John Mark. On a missions trip, he became discouraged and went home to Momma. Paul was aggravated by his lack of faithfulness.  When the next trip was planned, Barney asked to take Mark along. Paul refused. "And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God." (Acts 15:39-40, KJV)  Wow, so much for singing “Kum Bah Ya” around the fire, eh?

They had people who abandoned the fellowship, too. Paul, when he was an old preacher, imprisoned in Rome and awaiting execution reports that at such a critical time, one of the men who had done ministry for years with him had left the faith! "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia." (2 Timothy 4:10, KJV)  You can hear the disappointment in his words.

It’s not my intent to excuse hypocrisy, strife, or love of the world.  Those things are a blight on the Church and weaken her in her work. My point is that perfect is for Heaven! On this journey, we are in in the process of becoming more like Jesus. The greatest miracle is that God’s work gets done around, in, and through flawed people, broken people, imperfect people – just like me. Let’s grow up and get rid of our dreams about a church of perfect people. It doesn’t exist; never has, never will – this side of heaven.

Here’s a word from the Word. "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV)

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“Hallelujah, Thine the glory!

Hallelujah, Amen!
Hallelujah, Thine the glory!

Revive us, again.

We praise Thee, O God,

For the Son of Thy love,

For Jesus who died and

Is now gone above.

We praise Thee, O God!

For Thy Spirit of light,

Who hath shown us our Savior,

And scattered our night.

Revive us again;

Fill each heart with Thy love;

May each soul be rekindled

With fire from above.

William P. Mackay
Public Domain