What’s Right With the Church?

Some object that the church is full of imperfect people. That certainly is true. What Henry Ward Beecher said is also true: “The church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.”

Since none of us is perfect, the church will never be perfect either. In one of His parables Jesus reminded us that weeds grow among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). Someone has suggested that the church should be called the Society of the Forgiven and the Forgiving.

When we read the New Testament letters of Paul, we discover that the apostolic church had critical problems. And the church today often has serious defects. At some time or another most of us have gone to church expecting to be fed with the Word of God, but have come away hungry. We’ve known ministers who didn’t take their responsibilities to their congregation seriously enough, and church members who didn’t live what they preached. Some churches have grown unfriendly, and as one person said, “so cold, you could skate down the center aisle.”

Sometimes it’s very hard to look past these failures and see Christ’s original intent for His church. Sometimes it’s easy to walk away from the problems. But please remember that no faulty congregation can ever destroy or disturb the Great Cornerstone of the church—Jesus Christ Himself. So, in the long run, our only hope of receiving nurture in imperfect churches is to keep our primary gaze on the Saviour who ministers to us.