I Believe in the Church

I don't always like the church, but I believe in it.

I especially don't like the church when I hear about awful crimes committed by church leaders.

There's child abuse, sexual assault, and there are people who have made it their policy to cover up and excuse predatory ministers.

I really don't like the church then.

Or maybe that's the wrong phrase. I do like the church.

I'm angry because of what some men are doing to the church.

I'm angry because God's people are being hurt.

There have been prominent cases in the Roman Catholic Church in recent months, but Protestants have seen popular pastors, bishops, and seminary presidents revealed to be bad – or even evil – shepherds. All over, the Christian church is under assault from within its own institutions.

But we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that the institutions are the church. They aren't.

And the bad shepherds aren't part of the flock either. These predatory ministers and their defenders aren't the church.

The church is the people. The people of God. The people that these bad shepherds would destroy.

Don't think that God lets ministers get away with things because they (supposedly) work for him. Throughout the Bible, God actually makes it clear that ministers will be judged more harshly than others and held to a higher standard.

God has stern words for bad shepherds. Jesus doesn't give them a pass because they claim to be working in his name. Instead, he asks why they were using his name to begin with, and says he never knew them.

I believe in the church because it is God's people – his sinful, messed-up, hurt people. We are the church because of God's love for us.

I believe that God's love is strong enough to withstand the worst. So I want to be in that love. I want to be in the church because we are all there together.

The church isn't perfect, and it won't be perfect until Jesus comes again. But the church is where the amazing gospel of God's saving love for us is being told, and it's where the miraculous sacraments are breaking through everything to heal our broken hearts.

Get in a church, become part of it. Redouble your commitment to the church you're already part of.

Don't hold out for a perfect church – no person is perfect and no church is either. Instead, look for other people God loves and start worshiping alongside them.

Love the sacraments in your church – baptism and communion. Treasure them! They are God's gifts to all of the people he loves. They belong to God's people, not just the ministers.

Love the gospel in your church. Study the Bible together. Listen to the sermons, but also listen to the Bible and to each other in small groups.

I believe in the church, and I believe that God will do amazing things in it.

It just might be that God wants to change the church through you.

A version of this article was originally published Oct. 19, 2018 in the Capital Journal.