WHY BOTHER ABOUT THE GREAT CHURCH?

Earlier this year a shared a vision that compels me to do what I do – becoming a Great Church!  I invite you to reflect with me on a few questions:  Is a head still a head if it does not have a body?  Is a basement still basement if there’s no house on top?  Is a friend really your friend if you can’t stand his wife?

The Church is God’s building, with Jesus being the foundation.  There cannot be a superstructure without a solid foundation.  The foundation has been laid for a reason – to build on it!  If you drive by a construction site and see a cement foundation, you don’t think “Looks like they are ready to move in!”  No one lives on a foundation without walls, roof and decor, except for Christians who want Jesus but not the church.

Another imagery is the husband/wife pair.  Christ loves the church, he gave His life for her, and makes her beautiful.  The church submits to Christ and grows in beauty obeying Him.  Any husband worth the paper his marriage licence is printed on will be jealous to guard the good name of his wife.  She may be a double-crossing poor excuse for a wife, but protecting her is love.  Woe to the friend who comes around your house, hangs out, expects a good time, all the while getting digs in on your bride.  Who wants a friend who rolls his eyes and sighs every time your wife walks in the room, except some Christians who imagine Jesus wants friends like that, when they roll their eyes over the church.

The head  detached from the body may exist in the science fiction.  In the real world the head needs the body, as the body needs the head.  So, can you imagine cuddling with the little cranium, with no body?  Some Christians want to sing songs to the decorpulated head, and kick the body.

I think these three pictures are enough to make the point.  The current trend to get spirituality without religion, to find relationships without rules, to have Jesus without the Church, is just what I’ve illustrated.  Makes me sick to my stomach when I see book titles like “Life after Church,” “Quitting Church.”

That is why I love the Church, I care for the Church, and I want to see the Church healthy, beautiful, strong, connected to Jesus.  And I invite you to be part of the Church, to be an active member of the Church, to love the Church, and to care for the Church of Jesus.  It just gets better over time, moving from Good to Great together.