I'm dreading this fall. It’s an election year and an especially unappealing one at that. I’m not sure when politics turned into character assassination and fear mongering, but that’s where we are now. I wonder if any of our politicians are for anything or if are they only against things, especially the other party. Granted, it is easier to make a case against than for but that isn’t inspiring.

The same thing is true in the church. All some people seem to want to talk about is what is wrong with the church. There is no end of books telling us the church is in trouble (especially with the emerging generation). There is a lot of truth there. If you look for weaknesses, you can find them in abundance. At times we need critique. We can’t fix what we don’t know is broken. But for all its weaknesses, I believe there is more right than wrong with the church. Yeah, I said it.

To start with, the church is more than it appears to be from the outside. Maybe when you come to church all you see is ordinary looking people. They may be a little better dressed than most on Sunday, but they look essentially same. You drive in, park, walk into large building most of which is used one day a week, find a seat on long bench, mumble a few songs, bow head while a man addresses a “Father in Heaven,” eat a small piece of cracker, drink a tiny glass of grape juice, listen to another speech, visit briefly and then head home to your regular life.

On the surface, it all seems so mundane and meaningless. The reality is far beyond what we can see. We need to capture the vision of scripture again:

1 John 3:1-3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Col. 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Col 3:3-4 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

C.S. Lewis once said that God doesn’t let us see what kind of glorious creatures we will become when he is finished lest we be tempted to worship ourselves. But the church is more than a set of individuals God is transforming us into glorious creatures. The New Testament calls us the Bride of Christ, family of God, God’s temple, and God’s field. These are not just metaphors.

But the most common and compelling picture is the Body of Christ

Eph 1:22-23 God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

We picture Jesus’ body as a man who walked the earth two millennia ago. We know the body of Jesus who walked the streets of Palestine teaching and performing miracles doesn’t walk our current streets. We would regard anyone as nuts who claimed to see Christ’s body on Main Street. Yet Paul is saying we can see, touch, and hear Jesus today in church:

Acts 1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

Notice the important word “began.” Jesus’ actions and teachings did not end with his death and resurrection. Through his people, or church, Jesus continues to act in the world. That is why the book is called “Acts.” We are his second incarnation, or second body who continue his work in the world by means of his Spirit.

When Christians give food or clothes to a poor family, that’s Jesus. When Christians visit a nursing home, hospital, or prison, that’s Jesus. When we help out a sick neighbor by mowing his yard, we are Jesus. When we bring hope and draw others into the new Kingdom life, that’s Jesus. None of us alone is Jesus’ body, but together, with each serving as Christ has gifted us, we become his body in world.

1 Cor. 12:12-13 Just as a body, though 1, has many parts, but all its many parts form 1 body, so it is w/ Christ. For we were all baptized by 1 Spirit so as to form 1 body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Church is not a mere human institution that meets on a certain street. Church is the living, moving, active presence of Jesus in world. The church is still the church when scattered as much as it is when gathered. The church is you and me–the body of Christ who continue his ministry in world.

The tendency we have in the west, especially in the USA, to reduce Christian faith to the individual level of our “personal relationship with Jesus” sounds great, but it is a far cry from what Jesus said he was about. Jesus came preaching “The Kingdom of God” or “The Kingdom of Heaven.” The gospel is the message that in Jesus, God has come to reclaim his reign and set all things right. The church is the community of people who have entered that end time community before the final consummation of all things. You cannot be a follower of Jesus all by yourself. The church is the redeemed people of God who are filled with his Spirit and commissioned to join God in expanding and deepening his reign. God’s mission has a church. We are not asked to invite a personal Lord and savior into our lives, but to accept his invitation to become part of his people who serve his mission and live to declare his praise.

In my next blog post, I will deal with the difficulties of the church’s failure to live into our identity well. But, before we talk about the gap between what the church is called to be and how we experience it, we need to start by rediscovering the central role the people of God play in God’s purpose and will. The church is not optional. Our faith is communal by design and purpose. Our failures to live this out well do not change God’s will or purpose. It is time we rediscovered the church as God intended it and embrace our communal role in the world.

Note: You can find more helpful resources here.

What's Right with the Church, Part 1