Even With Her Wrinkles

Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her.   Ephesians 5:25

Be careful how you speak about the church, because Jesus Christ loves the church and gave up his life for her. We should have appropriate humility whenever we speak about the church.

God sees the church’s failures and so does the world, and it does us little good to pretend they don’t exist. It will be difficult for unbelieving people to take us seriously if we can’t see what is obvious to them. But those who are continually criticizing the church may find themselves embarrassed on the last day, when they stand in the presence of Christ and discover just how much he loves her.

A number of years ago I was invited to conduct a wedding in a beautiful church in the bride’s hometown in England. The couple had asked me to preach a sermon during the service, and I was happy to do so, much to the chagrin of the photographer, who was used to ceremonies that were over in about fifteen minutes.

He was waiting outside during the message, pacing back and forth. I know this because my wife had taken our boys, who were very young at the time, into the foyer. Eventually, the photographer came up to Karen and said, with obvious irritation, “Who is that man going on and on and on in there?”

“Oh, that’s my husband,” she said with style.

The photographer’s face quickly turned a bright shade of red . . . until Karen was kind enough to relieve his embarrassment. It is wise to be very careful about how you speak of someone who is loved!

When you know that Christ loves the church, you will begin to love the church too, even with her wrinkles and blemishes. And when you know that Christ gave himself for her, you will look for ways in which you can give yourself for the church too.

You can start by asking, How can I be most useful in building the church of Jesus Christ? How can I contribute to God’s work of reconciling people from every background to himself and to each other through Jesus Christ?

For further reading, see 1 Corinthians 12