I’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks about my plans for writing 2025. In the meantime, I wanted to kick things off by inviting you to reflect with me about the nature of the Church. Why does it exists? What is its true purpose? And why should we care?
Let me start by saying unequivocally that I love the church! I genuinely believe that Christ has empowered the church as his chosen instrument for the spread of the Gospel and to help usher in God’s kingdom on earth. And I am thankful to have been grafted into this incredible family of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
I also understand that the church is made up of people who are saved from their sin and now reconciled to God, and who are nevertheless still a work in progress, in many ways. Because of this, the church is not perfect. I have experienced firsthand the pain that is sometimes inflicted on Christians by the church, which is meant to love, nurture, guide, and protect them instead. I have no doubt also contributed to this pain for others.
But this is not a flaw in the church as a whole. And it saddens me when I talk to Christians who claim to love and serve Jesus, but do not love his church.
As I mentioned in my last article, I believe one of the greatest hindrance to the spiritual growth of many Christians today is a misaligned theology. If we are to love and serve God faithfully, we must first understand and come to really know who God has revealed himself to be.
God has revealed himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, as one who loves the church he established. So, if I am truly to love God and serve him faithfully, shouldn’t I also love his church?
When Christians don’t love the church, there is an apparent disconnect between who they understand God to be and what is the nature of his church. So, if we have any hope of living the abundant life Jesus has promised his disciples, then we have to get our theology of the church straight.
One of my favorite modern theologians is N.T. Wright. Years ago, I read a little book by Wright that continues to have profound impact on my understanding—and my love—for the church. So, over the next few articles I’d like to invite you to join me in a guided conversation about this book, For all God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church.
My hope is that, through this discussion, we might put to right any lingering disdain for the church and seek to become fully devoted disciples of Jesus, who love the church as he does.
Stay tuned for the first of these articles, which are coming in the next few days.