Dear Church Family,
I was recently around a group of Christians who were sharing their experiences in the local church and my heart broke to hear some of the things that were being said about “the bride of Christ”. You see that is who the church is. Ephesians 5:25-27 helps us understand the love relationship between Jesus and his bride.
Can I just say that when I heard these Christians “dumping” on the church it upset me. Yes, I know that the church is not perfect and that there are Christians who are apart of the church that sin and bring shame on the name of Christ. But that is not true of all churches or Christians. That does not give anyone the right to denigrate the bride of Christ.
People are normally very careful about what they say about a man’s wife because no good husband would tolerate his bride being disrespected by the speech of someone. Often people claim to love Jesus but reject, demean, or minimize his bride. In no other sphere of life do we walk away from an institution because of the presence of some hypocrites within that institution. You still go to work with hypocrites, You still attend ball games with hypocrites, you still shop with hypocrites, you still go to the hospital with hypocrites. But Satan loves when he can get people to run down the bride of Christ, especially if they are Christians who are doing it. It matters what we hold in our hearts toward the church. Our words, actions, and attitudes matter. Do not let a bad experience in church turn you away from the special nature of the church. We need the church to commune together, to learn together, to grow together, and to serve together!
David Mathis writes in his article, Do You Insult Your Savior’s Bride these words…“Jesus chose his wife before the foundation of the world. He cherishes her with energy and attentiveness. He cleanses her and prepares to present her pure and beautiful to himself. And he covenants to be hers, and with her, for all eternity. The Lord of heaven loves his bride. Does that not make you love her all the more? Does that not make you want to keep from carelessly speaking ill of her?”
“We do not whitewash the flaws of particular church leaders, or particular tendencies in sinful hearts. We do not cover for evil. Nor do we broad-brush the church, pretending to see and know flaws that are beyond our vantage nationwide, not to mention worldwide, and across the ages. And we don’t pretend the church is yet fully cleansed. Christ is still working on her. When tempted to dump on “the church,” we who claim Christ will do well to remember his perspective, and his heart, and to speak with the grace and truth of our Savior toward his bride.”
As I was in that group of Christians I did say a few things to remind them of some of the truths shared in this article. I believe some were open to hear what I shared, but still others I believe felt content to hold Christ’s bride in contempt. That is sad, and scary. May God protect our hearts and see that Christ’s church is to be loved, even in it’s unfinished and imperfect state. Let’s love the church. Let’s invest in the church, and let’s honor the bride of Christ out of the love and respect that we have for the bridegroom!!
I love you and I love being your pastor
