When The Bride Looks Like A Whore

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

THEME: THE IMAGE OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST IS PURE AND BEAUTIFUL.

Here comes the bride, here comes the bride, the bride makes her way through the doors into the auditorium. Everyone is excited to see the beautiful bride make her entrance. But wait, what is this, what is going on; the bride is wearing black spray painted dress. Her hair is greasy with mud in it. She is wearing old running shoes to her wedding. Look at those earrings with Satan symbols hanging down to her shoulders. Her eyes have green make-up on them and her lips are painted purple. And I think there is a tattoo on her face like the one Mike Tyson has. Her arms have oil on them and she smells like sewage. Worst of all she is carrying a purse made of pig skins and pig tails are hanging off it. The bride of Christ is really looking really ugly now.

Someday the church will have to walk down the aisle to meet her groom Jesus Christ. The Lord will be an expected a beautiful and glowing bride to meet him. It will be a glorious occasion. The Bride of Christ should be beautiful and pure on that day. She should be shining with a smile from ear to ear and have a beauty that spreads from one end of the room to the next. The Lord is expected bride to die for. But if the wedding took place this week, what would the bride look like now. Would she be all that the groom expected or would he be disappointed in her looks when she passed through the doors. Would he be shocked at the corruption and sin in the church? Would he be disturbed by the lack of love for one another? Would he cry when he saw the judgmental nature of his bride? Would Jesus be surprised at the lack of commitment in his bride? If the wedding took place today, how would the bride of Christ look? Would she be a pure virgin bride or a dressed up prostitute?

The Lord desires his bride to be beauty to the world. There is a movement in the world today to separate Christ from his church. People just want Jesus but not church membership. They desire Christianity but not church. People are looking for a relationship to God but are opposed to church membership. A prominent Christian author even advocated taking a break from church to become closer with God. He stated that the church was hindering his spiritual develop and formation. There are too many people who have been turned off by church in the past. People are tried of hypocritical churches and judgmental memberships. People are turning away from the institution of church because of dogmatic fights and internal bickering. But this shift away from the church is a shame because God had foreordained the church to be plan of his scheme of redemption. One cannot separate Christ from church nor Church from Christ. Christ shed his blood for his church (Acts 20:28) and you cannot separate Christ the head away from the body which his is church (Col. 1:18).

Unfortunately, it has been easy for Christians to place the blame on those church rejecting souls. This is the easy route and the less controversial. But when the bride of Christ is adorned with her proper clothing the world is automatically drawn to her. She is charming and pretty and people want to know her. We always talk about being lights in the world (Matt. 5:14-16) and glorifying our father in heaven. But it does not seem to be very bright because many people are not noticing us. We state that we are the leaven in the world but many people are not influenced by us. Maybe we need to admit that we are not are attractive as we were. Acts 2:44-47 “And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” In the early days of the church the bride of Christ was radiant and would light up a room.

But history has caused the term church to be a dirty word to many people. This is a pity because Christ intended for his church to bear witness to him throughout the world. People see all the blemishes on the bride of Christ now. They see abusive shepherds who controls through fear and intimidation. Also, they witness a joyless flock that acts no better than the average good person in society. They are sick of hearing about pedophiles as priests and oily-tongued con-artists taking their money in the name of God.