The Church: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Church. Its something that can just the word alone can be offensive, a four letter word of sorts. “It’s a place of hypocrites.” It’s a bunch of “holier than though people.” “It’s a bunch of judgmental Fanatics.”

It’s a place that has brought great pain to some. And great healing to others.

I know, I’ve seen it, I’ve been hurt by it, I’ve hurt others in it.

It wasn’t too long ago that I came to the realization that in church I am surrounded by people just like me. Sometimes seeing a mirror of yourself is not always the most flattering thing. For every fault I could find in the person offending me…I quickly saw myself making the same offense to someone else.

The difference was I had all the grace for me but held the other person on such a high standard that they had no choice but to fail.

Somewhere along the way I forgot that church is a group of PEOPLE. People who are walking through their spiritual journey, going through the same refiners finer as me. Maybe I may be a littler further along in one area and the Lord has dealt with me in that. Who am I then to point out that the person beside me isn’t as far as me….God knows I very well may be several steps behind in another area that that individual overflows with.

Somewhere we forgot to have grace for one another. Instead of just seeing peoples strengths we are so quick to see their weakness and their shortcomings. We get so mad at their immaturity and instead of coming along side them and learning from each other we are so quick  to tell someone else so we can all marvel at our greatness.

I am so humbled as I write this. I get mad at splits in groups and churches and yet I see in my lack of grace, my lack of dying to myself, I have torn things with my own hands. I have been the hypocrite that I get so mad at.

See it’s the greatest trick the enemy uses. We learn to despise the thing that makes us great. When a church truly operates in all its differences, it all its giftings, When a person who has conquered one area in their life is paired beside someone who needs to see victory, when a person who is prideful is paired with the example of humility…it’s a beautiful thing.

If we learned to pray and ask God to help us see those people beside us through his eyes instead of our own…can you imagine how effective we could be?