The Glorious Gospel in the Beauty of the Church, Part II: The Hurting Church

For Part I of this series

When you were growing up, did you ever want be a part of a group? Maybe you remember the reason you joined? Maybe for popularity or the community it offered? Or maybe you were like me and joined because of a crush.

Photo credit: Brandon Christopher Warren / Foter.com

I believe each person innately has a desire for community. A desire to be loved, appreciated and gathered together. It is how we were wired. I could even make comment on the uprising of atheistic churches seen in the Unites States and other countries. During the infant stages of humankind, God communicated with man. When Adam sinned against God, by disobedience, he hid himself because of the shame. I believe we still hide from the Creator, running to everything else except God.

Community. Family. Nation. People.

These words that are synonymous with a feeling of “with”.

Foreigner. Outcast. Alien. Stranger.

These words that are synonymous with a feeling of “without”.

We Are Family

photo credit: h.koppdelaney via photopin

If you are “sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” according to 1 Corinthians 1:2, you are a part of the Church. Notice the words, people, together, with and our; the held togetherness of the Church is signified within these words. There should be unity within the body of Christ.

Every family experiences tension between each other and for those that attend church, we know that it is not immune to this problem. I recognize that we have all been raised with various viewpoints and traditions, whether "circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is all that matters and He lives in all of us" (Colossians 3:11). The motto of one of my friends is this: Diversity of Culture, Christ in Common. And that should ring true in the ear of every believer. We are family by blood, the blood of Christ. This is the binding agent that holds all of our different characteristics together.

3 Reasons For Leaving Church

Lack of Community: I have been a part of a church where I always felt like an outsider. At the end of service, when everyone talked with each other, I left silently. I would simply leave, while no one even noticed. I hated that feeling. I prayed that God would show me how to build with the people there and to reveal to me if I was doing something wrong. Many individuals, myself included, would feel uncomfortable because those in the church held a certain high nosed mentality.

Gossip: This is by far the most popular to do within any family, much less the Church. I have never experienced gossip, but I know of people who have and it proves to be detrimental to the experience of the Church. In the defining moments of a life that is hurting, community is needed, not slander.

Haughtiness: I have several friends that claim Christianity, but do not attend church. Some of these individuals have a struggle with a specific sin and are likely still in that sin. Now this section is not about if someone who is in sin is still a Christian, but it is about the excommunication and high mindedness that people within the church seem to give. James 2:1-7 tells us that those that show respect to persons have committed sin and is guilty of the law of transgressors. And in Luke 6:42, Jesus defines one as a hypocrite, if one magnifies the splint in the eye of a brother, all while there is a 4x4 lodged in their own eye. We must realize that if one command of the law is broken, we have broken them all. We must be humble in our interactions with others.

The Church Rules

There should be no division among the members within the Church (1 Cor. 1:10), no obscene or foolish talk (Ephesians 5:3, 4) and if it be so, it needs to be addressed first between the two parties and second by the church (Matthew 18:17).

Christ has given life to the Church. Christ has given authority to the Church. And Christ has given Himself for the Church (Click to Tweet)

Next week we will talk about the Reconciliation of the Church, because so many people leave the assembly, the Church, without attaining a community outside of the one forsaken.

Have you ever felt any reasons to leave your church? What were they? How did you deal with those feelings? Is there a reason you don’t go to church? Please share your thoughts below.



Enhancing His Kingdom,
E.D. Jackson Jr.