The church you’re headed to this Sunday is about to let you down.

     It’s true, inevitable and I think the Bible even warns you about this reality up front.  Despite all of the hopeless efforts to make church “irresistible” on Easter Sunday there will be something that’s a turn-off.  You may run into someone you didn’t want to, feel like you’re the odd-ball, get caught up in an awkward conversation with someone you don’t know or have to sit by “that guy” (you decide who “that guy” is, he’ll likely be there).  There’s also a good chance you’ll hear “that” Easter sermon or have to sit through “that” Easter cantata.  Admittedly we Christians feel a need to make a production out of this weekend to celebrate the resurrection, each coming Easter Sunday must be “bigger” than the last.  After all, without the resurrection there isn’t any Christianity, it’s kind of a big deal.

     Some churches see Easter as an opportunity to put their church on display for newbies, some families see Easter as an excuse to get everybody together and others simply see it as the perfect photo-op for dressed up kids before an egg hunt.  I suppose none of those are bad things at all, all 3 are on my personal agenda.  Is any of this worth participating in church this weekend though?

Revelation Quicklink     Over the past 8 weeks our church has been studying verse by verse through the book of Revelation (something we’ll continue this Sunday).  Currently we’re concluding a section that contains 7 letters to 7 literal 1st century churches.  The letters contain information regarding the health of each one of the churches.  The kicker is that these letters are from Jesus himself!  Seriously, can you imagine getting a letter about the spiritual condition of your church and then find out it’s from Jesus?  Ha!  I mean it’s one thing for Joe Complains-a-lot to leave a note in the offering plate but these letters are from the Creator himself filled with rebuke, commendations and encouragement.  Joe’s letter gets tossed in the trash 100% of the time and gives us a smug chuckle.  However the one from Jesus, we might want to hang on to that gem.

     Yet, this is the “early church” we’re talking about here so if anyone ever had it together as far as “church” goes it would be them, right?  Wrong.  It turns out they’re the same messed up people we are (what a relief).  Jesus tells them to repent, love people better, stop tolerating sin, and to get their act together.  He doesn’t tell them this stuff so He can love them, but because He does love them.  The 7 churches were full of those who faithfully kept God’s word and served as well as those who drifted from God’s word and dragged people into sin and debauchery.  They were a real mess and there was obviously a ton of room for improvement.

     Not only were these churches struggling with various sins but their beliefs in Jesus put them in a position where they were considered unpatriotic lawbreakers by the Romans and blasphemous heretics by the Jews, a literally lethal combination.  Biblical truth is often so counter-cultural that it puts believers in awkward and difficult positions where we have to choose between faithfulness to Jesus or compromise with the world.  Being faithful to God’s word can then lead to society frowning upon you and yet compromise with the world is in direct opposition to what we are instructed by Jesus to “hold fast” too, His word.  Being a Christian is hard.

     “I’m ok with Jesus and stuff, it’s the people I can’t stand,” says the hypocritical person who is blinded by his own arrogance and pride, ha!  That may sound a bit harsh but it’s just so true.  Don’t tell me the church is messed up, I’m well aware of that fact.  I know that to be true from personal experience but more importantly from what is plainly told to me in the pages of Scripture.  Is the latest church debacle reason enough to stop pursuing truth with others?  Not in light of the resurrection it’s not.

 DSC_2356 - Version 2    The truth of the resurrection is the remedy to all of our church woes and all of someone’s anxieties to participate within the body.  It was “while we were sinners” that Jesus initiated a relationship with us (Rom 5:8).  He didn’t wait on us to improve ourselves before He engaged us and doesn’t bail on us in the midst of our ongoing struggles.  Jesus didn’t resurrect and ascend to the right hand of the Father to go take a break from us.  It is in the midst of our current mess that He is interceding for us right now (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 5:10; 8:34)!

     If you’re “ok” with Jesus then let us strive together to emulate His grace to others in church this Sunday.  Examine any human being and you’ll discover the mess that exists in their life, some more appalling than others I’m sure.  Can you love them in their mess as Christ loves you?  I implore the Christian who has withdrawn from the church because of the chaos that they’ve witnessed there to show grace to those whom you perceive to be the self-righteous fakers.  I beg the Christian who is easily appalled by the sins of nonbelievers to reflect upon the way Christ pursued you in your mess and to repent of your haughtiness.  I plead with the nonbeliever who steps foot in the church this weekend to overlook our mountain-sized imperfections and look only to the perfection of Jesus.

     Let us not pursue the truth of our imperfections (everyone’s already found that truth) but rather focus on the truth and implications of Christ’s resurrection.  It is the latter truth that is the remedy to the former.

Eager to tell people about Jesus this Easter Sunday,

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Cody Parman

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