Glory in the Church. Really?

This Sunday morning, October 7, 2012, I looked across our congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, and thought of words I wrote sixteen years ago when in the church in Boston. They are still true.

…to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:21  

Someone who looks at the church may see only average people with commonplace conflicts and typical weaknesses, and tend to dismiss her. I am writing this on a morning after being with the church on the previous night. I have to admit there was nothing outwardly impressive about most of us who were in that assembly. A snapshot of our group would have revealed some unusual diversity of race and age, but beyond that, we would be known for our ordinariness. But a closer and longer look reveals much more.

Beneath the humanness, something divine shines through in any church that truly belongs to God. Grace, self-denial, compassion, honesty and unselfish concern are all preached and practiced. They are practiced imperfectly, but they are practiced with determination and sincerity. Love is replacing distrust. Forgiveness is overcoming bitterness. Sacrifice is replacing selfishness. Faith is pushing out cynicism. And more people are regularly  being added to this scene of transformation.

The fellowship of which I am part is no more perfect than I am; we are a work in progress. But I see God and his glory shining through. I routinely see some things I would see in the world only rarely. I often see other things I would never see in the world at all; they are produced only by the power of God. There is glory in the church!

As long as the world lasts, we will be able to see the humanness of the church. However, we must never simply accept our weaknesses and failings. Our goals must be great ones. We must always be asking Christ to make us stronger, to change us, to help us become more of a true reflection of him. With faith that we can be different, we must be devoted to the discipline required for spiritual growth. Such hunger and thirst for righteousness will not go unfulfilled (Matthew 5:6). If we ask, seek and knock, it will be given to us, we will find, and the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8). When we pursue God, we will be transformed with “ever-increasing glory” into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).

So, love the church. Jesus does. Be thankful for the church. It is the one body of Christ on earth.

Never give up on the church. He never will.

Work for the perfecting of the church. Jesus is doing that at this moment. Give your very life for the church. Sacrifice to see her have a dynamic presence in every nation, every city, every town, every village. That is exactly what Jesus did.