Learning to Love the Church

It is very fashionable these days to disparage the Church.  Books like Life After Church and The Shack have been runaway bestsellers.  These go far beyond critique bordering on disdain.  Honestly, there have been many times in my life when I can relate.  I think I have experienced more hurt, more criticism, more judgement in the Church than anywhere else.  I have shed many tears, felt great stress and anxiety because of Her.  I'm not talking at all about a specific congregation, but the universal, invisible, worldwide Church.  Sometimes, it is awfully hard to love the Church.

But what does Christ say about the Church?  We are the Church, we are the Body of Christ, the Church is the Bride of Christ.  What did He do for the Church?  Ephesians 5:25-27 says "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." (emphasis added).  

St. Augustine said "if God is your Father, the church is your Mother."  In this passage in Ephesians, it is made clear that you cannot claim to love your Father and hate your Mother.  Take a look at Revelation 21.  Here are verses 9-14: 

⁹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

So, what are we seeing here?  First of all the Holy City is called "the bride, the wife of the lamb."  The Lamb is Jesus Christ, but what else is scripture is called "The Bride?"  The Church!  Notice the number twelve repeated several times here.  The number twelve is the number of tribes of Israel, the number of Apostles, in other words, twelve is a number representing the people of God.  Again, the Church!  The chapter goes on to describe the jewels (again, twelve), the very same jewels in the breastplates of the Levite priests.  The dimensions of the city make a perfect cube.  The only other perfect cube described in the Bible is the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and eventually the Jerusalem temple.  It is the dwelling place of the earthly presence of God and nothing impure may enter.  The walls are described as being made out of gold so pure it is transparent!  What does all this mean?!

It really shouldn't be too much of a mystery if we know our scriptures.  The people of God, the Church, is being described here.  A Church that has been cleansed and purified and made holy by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. 

I hope this gives you a new perspective of the Church as it did for me when I first heard this great news.  Now, the Church is imperfect because it is made up of imperfect people.  But praise be to God it has been clothed in righteousness by the sacrifice of the Lamb, Jesus Christ!  And will on that day be perfected and wholly purified.  Remember, Christ died for the individual, but, beyond that and, perhaps before that, He died for the Church.  If you love God, you must love the Church, warts and all, as He loves the Church and gave up His very life for her.