Recently I read this:

“The right to believe anything does not mean that anything anyone believes is right. The former is freedom of conscience and must always be respected unconditionally; the latter idea is nonsense and must often be opposed . . .”

Os Guinness – Unspeakable – Facing Up to the Challenge of Evil

I’d like to make a a two points in response.

First, we Christians should acknowledge that the church has often gotten it wrong concerning the proper application of tolerance. At times we have deserved the criticism that we are intolerant because of the way we have behaved toward those with whom we disagree.

We have proved to be quick to apply labels and put people into categories that diminish the respect that they are due as image-bearers of the God we claim to worship. We have lumped people into a faceless enemy rather than seeing them as ones whom God loves and wants to be in relationship with.

But, on the other hand, we do need to oppose ideas when they are untrue. The law of non-contradiction requires us to acknowledge that two mutually exclusive things cannot both be true.

So while we should always be loving toward those who disagree with what we believe, we also need to be clear about the distinction between what is true and what is false. We should also do our best to be able to explain why we make the distinction.

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Well, that’s not exactly how Jesus said it. His actual words were:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33, ESV

But the problem is that those of us that are in the church have been pulled into the church out of the world and we carry some of the mess with us.

Perhaps it would be instructive to examine the word that is translated world. The Greek word is transliterated as Cosmos, which one lexicon defines as “the sum total of everything here and now, the (orderly) universe.” Another lexicon tells us, “When what is constructed consists of people, we find the sense of “human order,” e.g., of rowers, of an army, or of a city or state.”

So, we will have tribulation in the physical universe around us and the human forms of order or government in which we move and operate.

But the problem is that we (or perhaps it is only me) have the expectation that this same type of tribulation will not be experienced in the church. Intellectually, I know this is an unrealistic expectation, but yet, I am frustrated every time I actually experience tribulation in the church.

There is an old saying that if you find a perfect church, you should refuse to join it because you will spoil the perfection. That saying is an indication that we each bring baggage into the church and must acknowledge that God has much more work to do in each of us.

Two ideas come to mind in response to this.

First, I cannot let my frustration with the ways the church falls short keep me from seeing how God uses His Church to bring people into relationship with himself. To focus on the failures without seeing the good things gives a distorted and harmful view. And, focusing only on the failures is a means the Enemy uses to keep us scattered and divided.

Secondly, Jesus promises to overcome the failures. The fact that flawed humans (including me) make up the church and participate in leadership of the church does not prevent Jesus from accomplishing his purpose for the church.

I echo the words of Paul:

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 1:6, ESV

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I assume that every believer has at one time experienced the sentiment found in the first two verses of Psalm 22:

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”

Psalm 22:1–2, ESV

Life comes at us and sometimes it comes at us hard and with evil intent.

As I indicated in my previous post, the frustration can even come from within the church. We wonder how or why God would allow events to go down the way they do.

When the hurt comes from the church, it is tempting to walk away and give up hope that the church will ever get it right. I have felt that temptation as a result of how I and other good people were treated at two churches in particular. I mention the other people because if I were the only one treated badly, I would look first-and-foremost at myself as the root of the problem.

But when I am tempted to give up, I remember that Jesus experienced the same feelings of abandonment as he hung on the Cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to be relieved of the responsibility he was undertaking.

Remembering this is crucial (pun intended) because it was the Cross and the subsequent resurrection upon which all our hopes depend. We learn from the resurrection that the evil which appears to be the victor, is actually defeated.

For believers, the wounds that are suffered at the hands of church leaders are difficult to overcome and the only chance of overcoming them is to look beyond those leaders to the Christ that the leaders claim to follow.

I am experiencing this right now. I am trying to find the balance of pointing out where the error lies without allowing my own sin to contribute to the chaos. I have seen God’s people abused by self-interested “ministers” who care more for their power and influence then the do for those they are called to protect.

In short, I have seen too many shepherds that have mutton breath.

I choose to believe that God will lead me into a situation where I can use my gifts to further the kingdom without experiencing the heartache of manipulative leaders pushing their personal agendas.

But ultimately, I need to continually remind myself that I am a sojourner and not yet home.

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Call me simplistic, but I think that when we talk about church culture, we seem to have gotten off track somehow.

For me it boils down to two choices. Either we have a church culture centered on the gospel or we have something else that looks like the church but is not.

The gospel tells us that we are saved by the grace of God and by His grace alone. In response to that salvation, we are called to fulfill two great commands. We are called to love God with everything we have and we are called to love our neighbor as good or better than we love ourselves.

I say that the commands are in response to the gospel because the Apostle John tells us that we love because God first loved us.

We don’t need a “woke” culture. We don’t need a social justice culture. We don’t need to gin up friendliness to visitors. We don’t need spectacular worship performers. The list of things we don’t need is endless.

What we do need is leaders and people who recognize their need of a savior and grateful that Jesus came to be that savior.

Certainly how we live out the gospel is many-faceted. Also, in each location living out the gospel will likely look a bit different because the people to whom we are called to minister are different and have different needs.

But, if we lose sight of our central purpose (individually and corporately) we will get sidetracked into all sorts of nonsense.

Focus on the gospel. Get that right and I have a feeling that everything else will fall into place as we seek God for how to proceed.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to make a comment, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. I enjoy hearing from you.