Dear Rose Park,
I had lunch with a younger couple on Monday at El Rancho out on the highway. I got there a little early to get us a table (and to selfishly eat free chips and salsa before they arrived). We caught up, shared stories of little ones growing up, and then we started the conversation that prompted them inviting me for lunch in the first place.
After eating her first few bites of an enchilada, this woman looked me in the eye and said, “I still love Jesus, it’s just hard to love the church.” Her husband agreed and added, “it’s been painful, we’re looking for guidance as what to do next.” My heart breaks every time I have this conversation and this certainly isn’t the first time I’ve heard these words or engaged in this kind of conversation. For as many joyful stories and fond memories some of us have of the church there are just as many wounds and broken relationships. Sometimes it’s a public scandal or controversy and sometimes it’s the searing pain of a word said in private. Sometimes it’s the stance the church takes on this issue or that issue and sometimes it’s the lack of conviction or what some perceive as apathy. Needless to say, the Church has been a source of great joy and great sorrow throughout the generations.
As a pastor, I try and live in the tension of these two realities. Some of my most cherished memories involve the church: attending Kids Club at Calvary Reformed Church, traveling the country and world with friends who deeply desire to love Jesus, standing at the altar with my bride surrounded by friends and family, accepting the call as minister, and witnessing and then participating in the baptisms of loved ones and eventually my own children. At the same time, I am well aware of the tremendous pains that have occurred within the Church: families still carry baggage from the way they were treated because of a divorce, individuals hold onto the pain when the church seemingly forgot about them, and communities have been shaped and scarred because of the way the church remained on the sidelines when injustice flooded the streets.
We cannot deny these two realities; instead, let us learn from them and grow because of them. We cannot change what has occurred, but we can seek reconciliation and peace for the future. We can recognize the pain of our current reality while also clinging to the hope of tomorrow and the life to come. Perhaps this is what the apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote these words to the church in Rome: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
The Church, and the individuals who belong to her, has sinned and has fallen short of the glory of God and yet there is still hope for redemption through Christ. So, let us give thanks to God for the times of joy within the church, let us pray for forgiveness and wisdom for the times of pain and injustice, and let us praise God for the hope that remains for the future through Christ.
Grace & Peace,
