The Beauty of Church
It's healthy for me to get out into nature, to smell the rain, to feel the snow, to be awed by mountains or rolling ocean waves, and to literally see God’s splendor portrayed. While fires can destroy and people can shamble those sacred spaces, such disappointing scenes never eliminate my belief that God made nature beautiful and the beauty is still available somewhere (or, could be restored).
Such is true about the church.
God created the church.
Christ builds it.
It's his idea and his handiwork.
The church is a beautiful place where amazing people gather and work together to love each other and others, be transformed and glorify God.
Sure, fires have come and people have cluttered many local churches. Some people who have walked into those not-so-lovely places have ridiculously trashed all churches and huffed away, believing no church is beautiful and, if it once was, it can’t be restored.
That's like seeing a lake filled with litter and refusing to visit any body of water.
It's like seeing scenic hillsides cluttered with concrete skyscrapers and believing all majestic vistas are gone.
It’s not logical.
Fortunately, it’s not true.
Many trashed places can be cleaned up; many spots are still naturally beautiful. And the same is true with local churches.
A local church is a gathering of committed Christ-followers living the Christian life so well that curious non-Christ-followers also come to seek and explore the Way.
Paul called the church a body with many parts (1 Corinthians 12), which implies tremendous potential and massive opportunities for struggle. Authentic churches are rugged and richly complex.
When Christians in a local church work together to stay on mission and avoid the mess, they not only attract the world (John 17), but they do extraordinary things.
Jesus said,
"May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me" (John 17:23, NLT2).
Becoming a local church member is about commitment–to Christ, other Christians, and Christ’s cause.
When a local church becomes what God dreamed it to be, life becomes outrageously deep and lives become extraordinarily changed.
In a Jesus-kind-of church, regular ol’ people transition into a radical and powerful movement. Fellow followers live a common dream and continue an uncommon journey, eager to experience and share more of the incredible life that God has planned for us.
I hope you've found a beautiful church and are committed to restoring it or making its beauty shine even more.
I hope that the freshness of your journey will cause your sails to be hoisted and your speed to increase.
I hope that together, your church will hear the rumblings of God within the earth and deep within your souls so that you recognize his call to experience the dangerous wonder of living on his agenda.
I hope that together, you'll press your lives forward, changing the world while you morph into the image of Christ.
This is an adventure that church folks can do together. A journey that can only be done together.