Sometimes those of us who are deeply committed to the body of Christ can also become the church's harshest critics. In my own journey I've found myself wanting more for the Church. That longing for more has often led to frustration and sometimes cynicism.
A while back I wrote an e-mail to a friend, confessing to him that I'm way too harsh on my indictment of the Church. Perhaps you've struggled with being too harsh on Jesus' body too. If so, I hope this challenge nourishes you today:
"I've been guilty recently of being too harsh and cynical of the church. Sometimes, I wonder if it hurts Jesus when I am so frustrated and sick of his Church. It is HIS body after all. And he still loves her...with all her quirks, failures, imperfections and ugliness. It's easy to be critical of the church and its problems, until I realize that one of her problems is . . . me!
I want to look at broad brush strokes and sweeping trends in the culture of the American church and criticize her accordingly. But rarely want to do put my own life through such a candid analysis! As I look in the mirror I am mindful of how little I spend time in prayer and fasting and weeping on behalf of Christ's body, and am floored at the realization that this is precisely what I condemn the universal church for not doing.
One of the verses of Scripture that has provoked me deeply is Paul's mysterious words in Colossians 1:24. He writes, 'Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the church'.
Instead of throwing rocks through at a glass church that is feeble and frail and such an easy target of criticism, Paul realizes that his own life is no way divorced from the life of the church. So instead of analyzing the gaps in the church as a whole, he looks at his own life. He concludes that his own blood, sweat and tears are somehow helping to fill in the gaps of what's still lacking in this suffering, struggling gatherings of people that God has named 'the body of Christ'. Instead of dishing out blows towards the church, he is willing to receive blows on her behalf, realizing that the weight of his own suffering is in some mysterious way being used by God to make the church stronger and more whole.
Perhaps God is calling me to lay down the ax I have to grind and pick up the cross I'm called to bear. In this text, Paul seems to be responsible for Paul. The responsibility of the Church at large. . .well, Paul leaves that in the hands of Jesus.
So, throughout my day today, I'll continue to wrestle with a church flooded with American consumerism, entertainment-based faith and individualistic Christianity. I'll deal with people with deep pockets but shallow hearts, believers who are apathetic towards things that break Christ's heart and saints who are lost in their cynicism. Yes, this is the American church at her worst...and perhaps in some cases at her best. But, I don't want my life's legacy to be a cranky critic who played a good game of arm-chair theology about all that's wrong with the church today.
Rather, I aspire to be like Paul. A man able to respond to a church still lacking, by believing that IF I give my all, Jesus will use my life towards the greater good of his Church...even if tangible results are not seen in my own lifetime".
Jesus gave His body for our lives. May we give the best of our lives for His Body."
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