Over the past few months, I have seen a thought crop up from time to time in the various social media resources that I use. It says something along these lines. If you are leaving a church because you have been hurt by the people there, you have been putting your focus on the wrong thing. Now, I will say that I agree with the overall idea of such a statement, though I also think such a statement does not fully grasp what it means to be drawn to Jesus through the message of Good News.
So let's tackle the first part first. If you leave because you have been hurt by the people, you have been focusing on the wrong thing. There is a way in which this is true. We gather as God's people because of what God has done for us in Jesus, the Christ. We are gathered as fallen, sinful people, whom God has redeemed through sending His one and only Son, who gathers people to Himself through His death and resurrection. Our hope is not found in being a part of the Church, but instead, in being washed, redeemed, cleansed, etc., by Jesus. We don't become part of the Church for the Church's sake, per se. We become part of the Church because we are rescued from sin, death, and the devil by Jesus.
That means that, when we gather with the Church, we are gathered with people who are just the same as us. Sure, their sins and temptations and weaknesses and flaws may be somewhat different in presentation and scope from ours, but really, we are all the same. We all stand condemned because of our sin, and we all stand with the eager expectation of forgiveness and life because of Jesus. Not a one of us should look upon another with pride, as though we are doing better in our walk with Jesus than another.
Our reality in the Church is that, as gathered sinners, we WILL hurt each other. We are not suddenly immune to sinning against our fellow members of the Church. Our human sinfulness and weakness will inevitably reveal itself in those relationships. Now, our hope is that we handle those occasions with humility, confessing our sin, asking for and granting forgiveness readily. Yet, we will not always do so. But our hope is not in how "right" we are with other people. Our hope is found in how God has made us right through Jesus.
So yes, we can fix our focus on the wrong thing, on people instead of the Savior. And even though we should remember that we are gathered because of Jesus, we also remember that we are gathered together with other sinful people in the Church. We cannot escape that reality. Jesus calls us to Himself within the Body of Christ, which means that we are in connection with others. We have brothers and sisters in Jesus, and the expectation is that we will live our lives in fellowship and connection with them.
That means that we cannot simply dismiss our relationships with others, as though it is just "Jesus and me." Our reality is that Jesus redeems us, and as redeemed people, we live out that redemption with other redeemed people. Now, part of being redeemed means that we strive to love our neighbor as ourselves. We put the needs of others as more important than our own. We practice humility, as though others were of greater concern than us.
That means we remember, when we hurt another through our sinfulness, that we are called to reconcile with each other. We don't pretend nothing happened. We don't let anger fester and build. Instead, as Jesus says, we leave our gift at the altar, and first go and be reconciled to our brother or sister. Jesus Himself suggests that our act of reconciliation is more important than our act of worship. And so, when we realize that we have hurt another, or that another has hurt us, that reconciliation with that person takes precedent, even over our worship of God.
While the "ideal" church (notice the small "c" this time) does not exist in this world, we are gathered into God's Church to practice the same reconciliation that has been given to us in Jesus. If we leave the church (small "c" again), perhaps it is that we have lost focus on what is of most importance. It's on God's redemption in Jesus, and in living as reonciled people together.
So let's tackle the first part first. If you leave because you have been hurt by the people, you have been focusing on the wrong thing. There is a way in which this is true. We gather as God's people because of what God has done for us in Jesus, the Christ. We are gathered as fallen, sinful people, whom God has redeemed through sending His one and only Son, who gathers people to Himself through His death and resurrection. Our hope is not found in being a part of the Church, but instead, in being washed, redeemed, cleansed, etc., by Jesus. We don't become part of the Church for the Church's sake, per se. We become part of the Church because we are rescued from sin, death, and the devil by Jesus.
That means that, when we gather with the Church, we are gathered with people who are just the same as us. Sure, their sins and temptations and weaknesses and flaws may be somewhat different in presentation and scope from ours, but really, we are all the same. We all stand condemned because of our sin, and we all stand with the eager expectation of forgiveness and life because of Jesus. Not a one of us should look upon another with pride, as though we are doing better in our walk with Jesus than another.
Our reality in the Church is that, as gathered sinners, we WILL hurt each other. We are not suddenly immune to sinning against our fellow members of the Church. Our human sinfulness and weakness will inevitably reveal itself in those relationships. Now, our hope is that we handle those occasions with humility, confessing our sin, asking for and granting forgiveness readily. Yet, we will not always do so. But our hope is not in how "right" we are with other people. Our hope is found in how God has made us right through Jesus.
So yes, we can fix our focus on the wrong thing, on people instead of the Savior. And even though we should remember that we are gathered because of Jesus, we also remember that we are gathered together with other sinful people in the Church. We cannot escape that reality. Jesus calls us to Himself within the Body of Christ, which means that we are in connection with others. We have brothers and sisters in Jesus, and the expectation is that we will live our lives in fellowship and connection with them.
That means that we cannot simply dismiss our relationships with others, as though it is just "Jesus and me." Our reality is that Jesus redeems us, and as redeemed people, we live out that redemption with other redeemed people. Now, part of being redeemed means that we strive to love our neighbor as ourselves. We put the needs of others as more important than our own. We practice humility, as though others were of greater concern than us.
That means we remember, when we hurt another through our sinfulness, that we are called to reconcile with each other. We don't pretend nothing happened. We don't let anger fester and build. Instead, as Jesus says, we leave our gift at the altar, and first go and be reconciled to our brother or sister. Jesus Himself suggests that our act of reconciliation is more important than our act of worship. And so, when we realize that we have hurt another, or that another has hurt us, that reconciliation with that person takes precedent, even over our worship of God.
While the "ideal" church (notice the small "c" this time) does not exist in this world, we are gathered into God's Church to practice the same reconciliation that has been given to us in Jesus. If we leave the church (small "c" again), perhaps it is that we have lost focus on what is of most importance. It's on God's redemption in Jesus, and in living as reonciled people together.
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