“I don’t mind Jesus, it’s his followers I can’t stand.” “You wouldn’t believe the way that I was treated when I went to that church.” “I’ve seen the way that Christians act when they’re not at church.” “The church is a bunch of hypocrites.”
What’s your first reaction when you hear comments like that? I think it’s only natural to feel defensive. After all, that’s us, they’re talking about. People in church. We might be quick to point out, “Well, that’s not every church or every church member. Don’t let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.” There’s probably some truth to that statement, but if we’re really honest, I can see why people might feel that way about church, can’t you? I think of the scandals that have rocked churches and caused people to walk away when they discover that church leaders were embezzling money, or that their pastor who they trusted and respected was guilty of some sexual sin, or when their pastor who seemed to be so devoted to Christ posts on Instagram that he has decided to walk away from Christianity. People who WERE part of a church recall their bad experiences with their fellow church members. How they were stared down when their child made too much noise during a church service. Or how they were “welcomed” with a, “Well, look who finally decided to show up at church today” when they were finally brave enough to come back. Those who have never been part of a church look at the way “church people” talk about and treat each other and then think, “Why would I ever want to be part of that?”
Every one of those things is hard for me to hear. And I think that it is especially hard for us to hear those type of comments because we have heard Jesus’ words in Matthew 5, “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:5.14.16). Christians are supposed to be a bright beacon of God’s saving grace, drawing people to come and see the great things that God has done for them. But instead of being that type of attracting light, it seems that too often Christians are seen as an annoying strobe light that people want to avoid. So what are we, the church, supposed to do? Is there anything that we can do?
I suppose we could pretend. I think that’s what a lot of churches try to do. Pretend that we are something that we are not. Let’s paint smiles on our faces and pretend that we don’t have any problems and everyone gets along with each other. But that’s not really helpful. That’s living in denial. Like going to the doctor and being diagnosed with cancer but going home to tell everyone that you are perfectly healthy. Denial is not only foolish, but it can be deadly because then you see no need for the treatment that is available to you. Pretending is not the solution.
Honesty is the solution. Honesty begins by saying to people who make comments like the ones you heard, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that the church has disappointed you. I’m sorry that I or my fellow Christians have done or said something that obviously hurt you. I am NOT going to try to defend or excuse it. Instead let’s just be honest with each other.” Honesty is the solution.
Honesty requires us making judgments of what is right and wrong. The fact that people say, “The church should NOT be acting that way!” means that there is a way that the church SHOULD be acting. And that means that there has to be some standard for right and wrong. There is only one standard that takes our personal feelings out of the picture – a standard that is completely objective. It is the standard provided by God in the Bible, which clearly shows us how God wants to us interact with one another and with him. The Bible does not allow for double standards or denial. It is an honest standard meant to be used by every Christian and every church. So what do you see when you apply God’s standard to yourself?
When we hold up our lives to God’s expectations for us, we see just how sick our hearts and lives have become. We have come to call “love” anything that we want to do and makes us feel good. We have come to call “hate” anything that makes us feel bad about what we are doing. Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day how guilty are we of using a double standard for diagnosing sin? One standard for other people and a different standard for ourselves. That’s the type judging that Jesus was calling the Pharisees out on in Matthew 7 when he said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). Has arrogance ever led us to quickly call attention to someone else’s sin while ignoring the sins that we ourselves are committing? The gossipy whispers, the one-too-many beers, the thoughtlessly using of God’s name that we brush aside and ignore. Why? Because it’s not sinful? Remember that both the speck of sawdust and the plank are dangerous to an eye. Both need to be removed. God’s standards helps us to see both the speck and the plank of sin in our own eye or someone else’s. Yes, God’s standard leads us to see that the church is a pretty sick place, and I’m not using “sick” in a good way. But sick in the deadly sense. God’s honest diagnosis of our hearts and lives is not a good one.
But just like a good doctor whose intention with diagnosing disease is so that he can treat it, so also our God makes the diagnosis of sin so that he can deliver the cure. What is the cure? One word, grace. It’s what Jesus showed throughout his entire ministry while here on earth. Grace – God’s undeserved love. You saw one example of it in Mark 2 when Jesus went to eat with the so-called “sinners” of his day. These people’s lives were spiritually sick. Money-laundering, bribery and prostitution were among some of the sins that these people were known for having committed. Jesus goes to them, not to make them feel BETTER about their sin or encourage them not to let anyone look down on them for the choices that they have made. No. Jesus came to diagnose and deliver the cure for their sin. He held out God’s grace to these people whose sin was going to cause them to perish forever. Jesus offered the cure, not because their lives were so spiritually healthy, but just the opposite. Because their lives were sinfully sick. As Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
And that’s what God’s grace has done for each of us. Jesus looked at our spiritually sick lives. He saw our hypocritical attitudes and our shadowy lives of love that have not always shined so brightly with good works, and Jesus performed the ultimate heart transplant. He took our sin-diseased and failing hearts and replaced it with his own – a heart that perfectly met God’s standard of love. Whenever that heart becomes diseased by the sins that we daily fall into, it is Jesus who comes with his grace, and makes our hearts clean again. He infuses our hearts with his righteousness, a righteousness secured by his life and death, and declares us “sin-free” and right with God. Did you notice what makes a person a candidate for such a spiritual heart transplant? It’s not because we are so spiritually healthy. It’s actually just the opposite. It’s because we are in such desperate need. We are simply recipients of God’s grace – God’s undeserved love. You see, that is what the church is. The church is a place of God’s grace.
What does that look like? It is NOT a church where the people are perfect and we have no problems. Instead, it is a place of honesty and love. It is a place where God’s grace leads us to be honest and loving with one another. God’s grace calls us not to turn a blind eye to sin, but to humbly address it with one another so that it might be diagnosed and treated with God’s forgiveness. God’s grace calls us to make judgments, not based on our personal opinions, or with a desire to embarrass someone, but with a love that desires to follow Christ and help others to do so. God’s grace calls us to treat one another with same measure of undeserved love that God has shown to us, to struggle along-side-of one another and encourage each other in our walk with Christ.
While there are times when person may need to leave a church because that church is being persistently unfaithful to God’s Word, the majority of people that I have met who have left the church have not done so for that reason. More times than not they left because of a personal experience that they with the people or the pastor of a church. While I understand that those relationships are important, we need to remember that church is first and foremost about our relationship with Christ through faith – a relationships that is all about God’s grace. The more that we keep that grace of God at the forefront, the more it will influence our relationships with those inside and outside the church. We begin to see people not for what THEY have done, but what Christ has done for them in his grace. It allows us to forgive more freely when someone does sin against us. It allows us to approach someone else’s sin with greater humility and patience. It creates in us a desire to follow Christ more closely in our lives outside the church so that others may come to see the glory of God’s grace.
Church is not a place for perfect people. Church is a place for God’s grace. It is a place where God honestly and lovingly comes to his people, diagnoses and delivers the cure for sin. A place where God’s people are empowered to live honestly and lovingly with one another, and to be brighter witnesses to the world around them of God’s glorious grace. A perfect place? No. Simply a place of God’s grace. Amen.
