Our Love-Hate Relationship with Church
By Chuck DeGroat
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called."
Ephesians 4:2-4 TNIV
Ephesians 4:2-4 TNIV
WE LIVE IN a culture of victimization, and truth is, we’ve all been victimized at some level. None of us asked for the pain the world confronted us with.
But, there is a second reality. We’re all capable of hurting others, too. Only the most self-blinded among us would deny there are times (and they are many) that we rage when we ought to offer grace, or when we long to devour another lustfully or murderously, or when we sit quietly in the face of injustice.
We want so badly for the Church to be the healing place, but it’s run by self-contradictory people, too. Commitment means taking the risk to hurt and be hurt, to join the company of saintly sinners who stay, who don’t flip the channel when they are bored or mad, but who commit to the messy reality of sacred relationships. It is through this imperfect body of saintly sinners that God accomplishes His mission. Maturity is about moving into the mess of relationships, and trusting all that crazy Bible talk about the importance of the body of Christ for our own sakes, and for the sake of the world.
But, there is a second reality. We’re all capable of hurting others, too. Only the most self-blinded among us would deny there are times (and they are many) that we rage when we ought to offer grace, or when we long to devour another lustfully or murderously, or when we sit quietly in the face of injustice.
We want so badly for the Church to be the healing place, but it’s run by self-contradictory people, too. Commitment means taking the risk to hurt and be hurt, to join the company of saintly sinners who stay, who don’t flip the channel when they are bored or mad, but who commit to the messy reality of sacred relationships. It is through this imperfect body of saintly sinners that God accomplishes His mission. Maturity is about moving into the mess of relationships, and trusting all that crazy Bible talk about the importance of the body of Christ for our own sakes, and for the sake of the world.
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