I've known a lot of Christians who have become disappointed with the church. That can be the church they go/went to, or the entire church that is the Body of Christ. In fact it seems to be a question of when, not if.
But I put a point to those who then despair, and question the authenticity of what they believe in.
- The church is made of up people. Humans.
- Our faith says that God made humans, but the relationship was then broken.
- Since the break happened, humans were no longer perfect, but flawed.
- So our perfect God sent the perfect solution- Jesus.
- Jesus has restored the relationship between us and our creator, and continues to do so.
- We can now spend more than a lifetime growing closer to our Creator.
But this growing, this learning, this changing, continues for at least all of this life.
We keep making mistakes and often stumble during this journey. We are still not perfect.
So when the Church makes mistakes, this makes my faith stronger.
Not following me?
Well consider the alternative:
If people could achieve perfection and completion...
...What was the point of Jesus? We could be “good enough” by our own efforts!
Or even if you believe that it's possible for a person to grow so close to God within this lifetime that they achieve their intended perfection (which would still involve a dependance on God), what do you think are the chances of even a small 20-strong congregation all achieving this?
So from that angle I can by happy that our flaws, corporately as well as individually, point out our weaknesses, and therefore point out our always-present need for God, and the truth in what the Gospels tell us.
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