loving the church, warts and all

I really enjoyed our Sunday night worship.

I thought it was great on a number of levels- I especially enjoyed the testimonies and baptisms- the clusters of people gathered in prayer before the Lord's Supper- I thought the videos and preparation were all great. I enjoyed our children's singing. I particularly enjoyed not hearing me preach. How great to see one of our key leaders, Benny Becht0l, baptize a couple he has known for years. It doesn't get much better than that.

I enjoyed the visual demonstrations of Christ at work in our fellowship.

One of my favorite moments was when Ray Sanders asked everyone who had been on a mission trip to come on to the stage and stand in front of the particular station that represented their mission partnership.

It was very meaningful to see so many standing on the stage.

The whole night was a great visual picture of how effectively our missional strategy is taking hold in people's hearts. But as great as the picture was for us, the reality of what the pictures demonstrated is so much greater than what we could possibly visualize.

One cannot walk away from an experience like last night without a sense that God's work in the local church is dynamic and effective. Despite the diagnosis of some that the church is on life support, barely breathing and close to it's last breath, what we experienced together yesterday says to us that the local church still works, and that younger generations are embracing it.

I'm not saying that we are not flawed. At times the church (not ours of course, wink wink, but the church in general- all those other churches) is ugly- short-sighted, self-infatuated and sinfully inflicted. Scripture is replete with examples of how God uses flawed people. Over and over again, we learn about soiled saints and pitiful prophets and patriarchs whose irredeemable qualities make us blush. They don't ask for His grace, look for it, deserve it of seem appreciative when they receive it. For the person who is looking for the Bible to be a book of virtues with heroes to emulate-it will fall way short and only be disappointing.

The Bride of Christ is not always Rachel, sometimes she is homely Leah.

Some will correctly point to the mistakes of the church. Some will see that the church has been an embarrassment- judgmental and narrow, listless and petty.

To all of those complaints we say "guilty as charged."

But we must also remember the important point that God uses the ugly and unattractive. He uses the poor and foolish to confound the wealthy and wise. He chose the unimpressive Able instead of Cain., Isaac and not first born Ishmael. He used the lying stealing, cheating mamma's boy Jacob and not the man's man Esau. The outcast cripple Mephibosheth was brought in and blessed, the other more impressive sons of Saul were torn to pieces.

Don't forget that it was through Leah and not radiant Rachel that the Lord brought the tribe of Judah. He used the spoiled Joseph and not Rueban- the younger and weaker are often used effectively and not the strong and well-connected. Isaiah tells us that there was nothing attractive about the crucified Christ. All of this simply to drive home the important point that it is because of His grace that we stand. It is not about how great or beautiful or attractive the church is, but how incredible His grace. The church is not the hero. Jesus is the hero.

It's not about how great and wonderful and attractive we are. It is about how deep His grace is.

"Nothing in my hands I bring...
"Simply to the cross I cling."

If scripture teaches us anything, it teaches us that God uses the broken vessels, the dispossessed and second born. I love the story by Brennan Manning about the valley girl who reads the New Testament for the first time:

"Wow, Jesus is like really into ragamuffins!"

Some say they don't like church. Others have just walked away, given up. "The church is ugly and irrelevant," they say.

Yes- but that's the whole point.

This way we can't get the glory.