I'll be the first to admit that I've been in a place where I've said, "I love Jesus but I'm not that thrilled about the church."  Lately, it seems as though this concept has reared it's ugly head in conversations with frustrated and disgruntled believers.

     On one hand, I get it.  The church is full of sinful people (Romans 3:23) and anytime you consistently gather sinful people together they will inevitably sin against each other.  So this anti-church mentality does come with a bit of "righteous" anger since we are instructed to hate sin.  Nobody enjoys being sinned against. 

     On the other hand, I don't get it.  Paul Tripp puts it this way, "Sinners tend to respond sinfully when sinned against."  Is withdrawal and permanent disgust of the church really the answer?  Sin in the church can weaken, burn out, and distract a believer away from the gospel reasoning behind their original church participation.

"Sinners tend to respond sinfully when sinned against."

Let's take a quick look at a popular piece of Scripture:

     [25] Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, [26] that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. [28] In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, [30] because we are members of his body. [31] “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” [32] This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. [33] However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

(Ephesians 5:25-33 ESV)

     This amazing text compels and instructs us men to sacrificially love, serve, and lead our wives to Jesus, and rightfully so.  Yet this instruction is BUILT on the example of Christ's sacrificial love for the CHURCH!  We are the church.  We are the ones who were "dead in our trespasses" and did NOTHING to earn God's love.  Only by God's amazing grace and mercy are we saved by His atoning death on the cross.

     This is the Gospel message that should drive us to love and serve in the church.  It's only on the foundation of God's grace that we are able to do so even with zeal.  If you're burnt and confused by circumstances in your church past then fall back on your first love by which you were saved, the Gospel message.  Worship Him.  I know your experience is unique and especially complicated for you, so is mine.  However, dwelling on a sinful circumstance only paralyzes you.  It is in those paralyzing moments that we should preach the Gospel message to ourselves again and again.

     And NO, this isn't when I tell you to get up off of your behind and make a stand for Jesus because you're a champion.  This is when I tell you that Jesus alone is the champion and you should stay on your knees in appreciation of His glory.  Respond to His grace in your life with a commitment and passion for the church that Jesus would receive glory.  We serve in the church because we were served, what a humbling and incredible truth that Jesus died for us.

     We aren't the solution to church woes but Jesus is.

For the King,

Cody Parman