The Imperfect Church Reaching Imperfect People

The Imperfect Church Reaching Imperfect People

Have you ever gotten stuck in the middle of something? Too far in to stop, too far away from thinking you can fix it. It's a giant mess and you don’t know what to do. We have all faced that. Stuck in the middle. It happens in many different contexts.

March 23, 2021 the largest container ship ever built, named the Evergreen, nearly as long as the Empire State building, got stuck in the Suez Canal. 

Just as it entered the canal the winds picked up and the 14 stories of cargo vessels functioned like a massive sail. Add in some miscommunication between the captain of the ship and the local pilot of the canal, “turn this way, turn that way,” and then a fateful order to “go full steam ahead!” The hull of the giant ship was only a few meters above ground as it was, and then water rushed between the ship and canal wall and its pressure fell. Then it succumbed to a bank effect, which is when the stern swings toward one bank while the bow is pushed from it. The ship whipsaws, and the faster its speed the lower the water pressure around, causing it to lodge deeply into the muddy bank of the great canal. The Evergreen would sit there idle for the next six days, and also dammed up the worldwide shipping industry for six days, also freezing nearly $10 billion a day in trade. It was a giant mess. 

Has there ever been a time in your life that this event would describe what it felt like being in church? Where it feels like a giant mess. Like you can’t fix it, in too deep, but also feel like there is no way you can fix it. And then you question the place of church in general. Seems easier to not be there. If so, this message is for you today. 

I want to talk about the mission of the church. We often talk about our mission from the sense of the beginning, of Jesus telling his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit.Matt 28:19

Or we could build our theology on the end of the history when Jesus returns on the clouds to save his people. People from every nation, tribe and tongue who have believed in him are gathered around the throne of God in a new heaven and new earth and singing songs of salvation in Jesus (Rev 7:9). It is glorious. 

Those are great poles to focus on, and to know, but what I want to do today is to look at where we are, stuck in the middle of those poles, where we have good news, God is changing people, but it is messy, and we often want to run from the mess but we are called to embrace the mess.  

The reason I want to do this is that as we talk about Reconstructing Faith, and why Jesus is still worth building your life on, one of the big reasons people leave the faith is because of the church, it’s messy and disappointing. So let’s talk about it. 

**The church is a gathering of imperfect people 

In which God is working so that 

they can reach imperfect people 

That is God’s design and if we are going to serve God it requires an embracing and devotion to this process and this church. 

The church is imperfect. I have to say that. At best it is imperfect. Composed of imperfect people. Just means you are starting the journey. That you are in the race. Not arrived yet.

Just cause you are in 

doesnt mean you are done. 

This church is clearly imperfect, more than that he says they are worldly. They are acting as the world and not as the spirit. They are in the flesh. They have a little Jesus and a lot of the world. 

They are boasting about who they follow and which apostle is greater. Childish! Like kids debating the GOAT in basketball or football. They are doing this in church. This shouldn't surprise you bc the disciples also argued over which of them was greater. It shouldn’t surprise you that about 40 years after this letter is written, Clement the bishop lead pastor of a church in Rome wrote to the church in Corinth because they were having the same issue then too. Clements actually rebukes them saying at least when you did this before you had the apostles to fight over compared to the bozo’s you are arguing about now.

They are not spiritual but of the flesh. 

They are infants in Christ. He is calling them a baby. Not high school, middle school or elementary, but infants. Those are fighting words, but evidently it is true. You need milk not solid food. I want steak, lobster, give me some substance. Why, you can't handle it. You can't chew it, you can't digest it, it would be a waste of time. 

I think one of the biggest reasons people turn from the church today is because they see the immaturity of the church. It is disappointing and confusing seeing that. Things ought to be different in the church. 

Have you experienced the immaturity of the church? It's one thing to see it in writing, but it's another seeing people cut in front of you at the buffet line. Running late and you cut someone off in the hallway. Pastor forgot to include a slide and then asked for it. Sometimes people think differently on what the church should do. Those differences grow to be divides. Saw someones online profile and cant believe they would do… How about when your friend misses group again, dodges questions, isn't reading his Bible or going to church. Or when you see people turn away from Jesus– abandon family. When they 

We need to see the imperfect nature of church. People often have dreams for the church that are not part of God’s design. “Disappointed with community itself.” Bonhoeffer. 

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him very definite ideas of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and if we are so fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world… The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both… Life Together (New York: Harper Row, 1976), p26-27, 

It is part of God’s design that we be disappointed in church, and in others. Paul will actually say in 1 cor 11 that these differences are necessary. It shows who has God’s approval. It shows who is really walking with the Lord. You can talk the talk all you want but can you walk the walk. You can talk about loving others but are you doing. It’s easy to love people who do everything right, but what do you do when someone keeps offending you. Maturity doesn’t run and hide. 

I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 1 Cor 11:18–19.

When the imperfections of church land on you then you will have to decide how committed to Jesus you really are. How are you going to walk through this? Will you turn away or will you go hard after Jesus to understand what is going on. 

There are categories to think about. Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted. Help the weak, be patient with them all (1 Thess 5:14). 

Weak brothers are those who genuine follow Jesus but they are weak, they fall, they make mistakes, they struggle. There are the strong who are running hard, but may have blind spots and run over the weak. 

There are also those who will deny the faith by their actions. This is where church discipline comes in. Those who are out of line with the life Jesus calls us to. We need to bear with the weak. Matt 18 gives us a process for correcting and removing people from the body if they are unrepentant. 

Churches are like immune systems. A healthy body doesnt mean it never comes into contact with bacteria and viruses, but rather that it is able to fight those off. 

This is one of the reasons healthy churches take membership seriously. Many will come to church for the awesome worship, the incredible preaching, but are you willing to be in the hard conversations too. 

City on a hill. Hawthorne. No perfect churches. There are healthy churches. One aspect of a healthy church is that they take seriously the membership of the church. Take seriously that if you are going to be a member you need to be following Jesus. We forgive shortcomings and the failings of earnest but weak and flawed people, but we also oppose those who want to say its ok to do wicked things. You have to make those distinctions. The distinctions Paul is talking about here are the kind of problems genuine Christians wrestle with. Later he is going to discuss some issues like immorality that are out of line with those who claim to follow Jesus.   

We need to know that churches, good churches, will have problems. People who think differently, people who do dumb things. A good church will work through this in godly ways. 

People are pushing aside the church because it is not perfect. It is part of God’s design for you to grow and be effective. The strongest plants are those that have been through harsh conditions. Put an inside plant outside and it quickly withered because it was not conditioned for the outside. The mess of church will make you strong. The goal of church is not to make you comfortable but to make you more like Jesus. If we as a church are not presenting you with opportunities to die to yourself, to learn to forgive, to work hard at loving, then we are not doing our job. 

There is an attitude today that expects the church to be perfect. And if people inconvenience me or upset me then I am out, or my specific need is not met I am not willing to forebear for one moment. 

People want convenience not godliness. A perfect church is easy to love, easy to be a part of, and it would require no Christlikeness, no sacrifice, no devotion. The very things we most need from the church are the things people are most resistant to developing. 

Honestly, I think our individualism has pushed us past just having clicks in church. The divisions have multiplied where if people dont get exactly what they want they just quit coming. Its not worth the effort of developing a click. So little commitment. 

Never have the expectations for the church been higher and the commitment to the church lower. 

I also want to say this. Some people want to reach others for Jesus, but they dont want to be inconvenienced for it. Dont want to be uncomfortable. If we are going to love the lost, it will mean going to uncomfortable places and people. We cant sit here and wait for them to come in. Culture is telling them how bad the church is. We need to go out and tell others how great Jesus is. 

The situations people find themselves in today are not good. It’s messy in the church. Its messy in healthy churches. It is crazy outside the church. I’ve been there. I know it. Some of you are still in it. 

At least inside the church we have God’s word to tell us certain things are out of bounds for us to do. They don’t have that outside the church. And they will not know unless someone goes to tell them. 

We need to move toward those who are hurting. Don't get mad and pass by on the other side. Luke 10. The good Samaritan, went over and took care of all the needs of the man who was beaten and laying on the ground. 

Our goal is not going out telling people they are wrong and get it together. We go out telling people we have a Savior. They dont need perfect friend. I remember having this epiphany when our kids were young and driving us crazy. We got mad and then we got sad that we were mad. FEel that brokenness. Then we realized God was using that brokenness to help our children. They dont need perfect parents. They need parents who are imperfect and know they are imperfect. We are sinners and need a Savior. I can point my self and my young kids to Jesus and how he is working in us. 

If we want to reach people its going to mean climbing down into the hole with them. If you want to get that ship unstuck, your going to have to get muddy. If you want to help rebels come to faith, you need to be around them. 

God is using imperfect people to help imperfect people grow. It is happening in the church! Growth happens in God’s people. 

This is why, with all the critique that Paul gave to this church, he never told them to stop. He never said, you have fallen too far, or you are so messed up Jesus can’t redeem you. They were making sloppy progress. All the dumb things the disciples did and he didn’t tell them to stop following him. They were in process. He was working in them. 

Ordinary means of grace. Also, they are committed to the basic things of the faith. They are together, hearing the word of God, giving heed to Paul’s words, weighing what they mean and how it should change them, and seeking to change and conform. In their weakness they are seeing more of Jesus. Slow growth is happening. 

Oak vs mushroom. John Newton. Remember the growth of a believer is not like a mushroom, but like an oak, which increases slowly indeed but surely. Many suns, showers, and frosts pass upon it before it comes to perfection; and in winter it seems dead.

How many times have I left the small group wishing more would have happened. I want people to get it together. Seas part, eyes opened, men falling down crying. But there are breakthroughs. When people go to their first ever Bible study. That's awesome. When they begin to open up and share what is really going on. 

Rather sit home and binge watch football. How is football helping you address the things you are dealing with? Parenting is struggling because you are trained to be a world class programmer, but you can't figure out the code for your wife and kids. Can lead a business, but don't know how to deal with hearts and emotions. This is what discipleship is. 

Frequently the analogy used for the spread and growth of the gospel is that of seed (Matt13, Luke 8). Jesus told a parable about a sower who sowed seed, and he compared the spreading of seed to the spreading of god’s kingdom. It is slow, gradual, but marked. In due time it produces a harvest 100, 60, 30 times what was sown. Its not the fastest, flashiest, hottest, most eye catching, viral. It is slow and stead progress of growth. May be times it seems nothing is happening. 

Growing in godliness has nothing to do with being comfortable. It takes discipline and hard work. It takes forgiving. Showing mercy. Correcting someone yet again. It takes persistence. 

It will change you. It will change your family. Do you need help believing God can change the people around you, in your life, in your family? Do you need help figuring out how to do that? The church is the place you learn to handle some of those hard things. 

Thankfulness. For every critique, offer 10 reasons for thanks. An attitude of giving thanks develops eyes that see and discern where God is at work. What he is doing. Culture inundates  us with dissatisfaction on everything. Dislike it all. Rip to shreds with critique, and offer nothing

Be committed to the church. 

I dont believe the messiness of church is the reason so many give up on the mission. I believe the real reason is simply a dwindling of faith, a lack of pursuit, a lack of the ability to see God working in the mess. It is a matter of perspective. 

The blockage of sin is set free by the power of the gospel. God is changing us. His mercy is at work. We are able to show others what his mercy has done for us.

People are more willing to be disobedient to God’s mission to make disciples than they are to be in a church that might inconvenience them. Keep them from chasing the dreams the world has given them than embrace the calling of the Holy Spirit** 

Jesus is in the habit of getting us unstuck, fixing our problems. If you ever feel like you are lodged in the muck of life and even the biggest tug boat isn't sufficient, thats when you turn to Jesus. He has given you a message to share with others. His mercy changed you, set you free, if he can change you, he can change anybody. 

Church is the community where we encounter God’s word. It's where we learn and grow with others. It is all imperfect. We have to continue in it, continue working through. If it were perfect we would have no place in it. It's the place imperfect people come together to reach others, to share in and of grace. And if we are going to commit our lives to Jesus it will involved committing our lives to his church, his people.