The Imperfect Church Problem

The Imperfect Church Problem

You have heard it all…Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven; church is for sinners, not perfect people; if you leave a church because of people, you went for the wrong reason. Could it be that these excuses for poor, if not outright evil, behavior is part of the reason folks don’t want anything to do with the church?

You know the verse in Matthew 18:20 about Jesus being present where two or three are gathered in his name. However, if you go look it up you will find it has to do with sin in the church. It is a rare thing for congregations to deal with carnality in the local church. It is uncomfortable to deal with it and comfort is often preferred over conflict. In the end, Jesus said there is cause, after attempts to intervene, for people to be seen as a pagan, not a church leader, teacher, board member or pastor.

Tough words, right? Yet week after week we see sin, carnality and outright evil expressed toward others on our campuses and discipline goes largely unused. Yes, the church is a place where sinners are transformed by the grace of God. The church should also be a place where wolves parading as sheep are unmasked and presented with the gospel and accountable relationships designed to model changed behavior. If the person refuses the gospel and discipleship then they are pagans and should be removed from all positions of influence.

Fear is what continues to give evil power in the church. Fear of what people will say. Fear of financial loss. Fear of “no” votes during our elections. Fear of people leaving the church. Fear of nasty phone calls, letters and emails. Fear of what people will say to our family. Fear.

So we tolerate carnality.

So we see sin and look the other way.

So we share memes on social media that make us feel better. After all, only Jesus is perfect. We deceive ourselves by ignoring and excusing carnality while those outside our campus move further away from us.

Maybe it is time for some courage in our congregations so those interested in Jesus can find him through us, our love and accountability. Neither your church nor mine is perfect but it might be better if we confronted sin in disciple making contexts instead of washing our hands because we talked about it from our platforms.