Can You Love the Church but not the People?

The Church. The Bride of Christ. An Assembly of Saints. A Royal Priesthood.

Those are accurate but intimidating descriptions of God’s people. We all agree that the local expression of that comes up a bit (!) short. So what does it mean to love the church? And can we?

Here are some challenges from wise people who’ve thought long and hard about this. I’ve linked to each article and given a brief tease below each one. You will benefit from their wisdom.

4 Ways Paul Encourages Us to Love the Church (Even When It's Hard)

"At first glance, 'the house of God' (Heb. 10:21) is unremarkable: a regular gathering of ordinary people committed to a largely invisible mission.... But the church has more beauty—and more value—than we can see with physical eyes. Like the Old Testament tabernacle that was covered on the outside with ram’s skins and goat hair but ornamented inside with gold and silver, the ordinary-looking church is actually much more than it seems."

Help! I Love Jesus but Not the Church

“It’s impossible,” says Dustin Benge, “to love Jesus and not love the church. I’m not talking about loving an organizational structure or programs, but the church for who she is as God’s people and the bride of Christ. To combat your lack of admiration for the church, I want to challenge you to see the church perhaps differently than you ever have before—through the eyes of her bridegroom.”

How I Learned to Embrace the Stand and Greet Time

Here’s a challenge I hope you accept from Tim Challies (whose newsletter I wholeheartedly recommend subscribing to) regarding a perennial issue that plagues many churches. “I may not know you, but I think one thing is safe to say: You do not have as much natural revulsion as I do toward a stand and greet time during a church service. You don’t feel a greater measure of inward terror when you hear a service leader command, ’Stand up and greet a few of the people around you.’”