What I Really Think About the Church

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
Santa Fe, New Mexico

I have been a Christian my whole life. Both my mom and dad have been involved in ministry for the past twenty years, I was baptized when I was nine, and I am currently attending a Christian university. I have been to thousands of corporate worship services and dozens of Christian conferences over the past eighteen years. I've known the Church for a long time. 

Here's what I really think:

I love the Church. 

I know it's not very cool to think or say that right now. I know that it's in vogue to reject most formal methods of worship, but I love the Church. She is not perfect. She is not always kind or welcoming or fun. Sometimes She can be a little too comfortable and judgmental, but I love Her anyway. 

Why? 

I love the church because Christ loves Her. I will never give up on the Church because Christ will never give up on Her. I will do my best to make the Church better because Jesus has a bride, and She is the Church. 

In Ephesians 5, Paul writes this about relationships and the Church:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV 

I get frustrated with the Church too. I see things that are wrong with Her, things I want to change. I see the love of Christ misrepresented, and that makes me angry. But love is not dependent on perfection but on how much one values something. Jesus Christ placed enough value into the Church to given His own life up in exchange for Her sanctification. If He, as the incarnation of God, found the Church to be more valuable that His own life, then how can I not value Her? 

I will die for the Church because Christ died for her. I will never give up on the Church because Christ will never abandon Her. I will do my best to help the Church be holy because Jesus has a bride, and She is the church. I love the Church because I love Christ.