In a world where the local church has a stigma of being hypocritical, judgmental, and unloving, here's how the church should be and why we should embrace it: Being a human means feeling emotions deeply, having imperfections and becoming something in this world. Being a Christian means you have help in doing those things. God promised He will always be with us, which means these things that make being a human so hard are not faced alone. You are not alone. Being a Christian means encountering the cross and wanting to know more about God and His sacrifice, so with that we attend church. Church, with all the hypocrites and people you might not necessarily like and leadership you might not agree with, is what God gave mankind to encounter him. God thinks church is important, which means so should we.
Church is both important and impactful in the world. No matter who it is, when someone walks away from entering into the house of God, they have a new view on God and His people, whether good or bad.
As the local church, we are continuing the story of God. We are equipped with a heart and resources to reach His people. The God who has indescribable power is the same God who is allowing us to expand His kingdom. He doesn’t have to do that. He doesn’t need churches. He could write His name in the stars and prove once and for all He is the Creator, but He doesn’t. God allows broken people to form a community, a church, and speak on His behalf. The local church is important for these simple reasons; we are allowed the privilege of working on the story of God. We are the public manifestation of God’s glory. We are His example. Our witness will draw people near to God or push them away and that is an impact that should humble us before our Lord and also realize just how important our job is. We are responsible for finishing the Creator’s work. We are responsible for assisting the lost in becoming alive.
Churches will always be here because people will never stop needing God and an atmosphere to learn about Him. We will never know everything there is to know about God until the day we meet him. We have a duty as a church to leave an impact on the world for him and that impact will either, depending on the condition of our hearts, ensure the evangelism of the world before the end of God’s story or send people fleeing from His grace. We as a church will draw people to Him by embodying God's characteristics: love, grace, patience, compassion, and forgiveness. By operating out of unconditional love, people in this lost and dying world will ask, "what makes you guys so different?" So as the body of Christ, let's be the example He has called us to be and that will leave the biggest impact of all. Bigger than how much money we make, how beautiful our sanctuaries are, how talented our musicians are, or how big our church is. Let's throw away pride, hypocrisy, and judgement and put on love, forgiveness and grace.
