Church and a Book: Broken but Beautiful

“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”” Psalm 122:1

It’s mid-winter in these parts. Bitter cold has gripped a brown and white landscape. The blue of a January sky is the coldest blue you’ll ever see—crisp, cloudless, steely, flecked only by slow moving strokes of smoke rising from chimneys below. Bundled from head to toe folks here whisk from car to house, house to car, attempting to avoid the biting wind which blasts through even the warmest protection.

Occasionally a snowstorm approaches, draws a curtain on the icy blue sky, warming the frigid air. A recent weekend was one of those reprieves. The only problem was, it came on a Sunday morning and resulted in church being cancelled. Sunday, you see, is my favorite day of the week because it’s the day I am able to gather with God’s people.

Sunday wasn’t always my favorite day of the week. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-30’s that I came to know the Lord and learned the value of this set-apart day.

Church is word sorely misunderstood in our time. Church is not a building, though believers gather, for the most part, in a building. Church is the body of Christ—a people from every tribe and tongue from around the globe who have believed upon Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and have repented of their sins. Within their local area, these believers gather on Sunday to worship God in song, hear the preaching of God’s Word, encourage one another, and enjoy blessed fellowship together. As believers, this gathering lifts our gaze to our Saviour, and strengthens our soul to go forth into the world for another week—lights shining a bit brighter in the darkness than we were on Friday.

Pews within the church building are filled with two kinds of people: sinners saved by grace, growing in Christ-likeness, and still sinning; and sinners not yet saved by grace, and still sinning. The result is a marred church. Scandals cast a negative reputation upon her, members hurt and betray one another. Others just leave it all behind because of frustration or unmet expectations.

The conclusion? There is no perfect church. But the church is still a beautiful gift. So says the great preacher of old, Charles H. Spurgeon:

“If I had never joined a church till I found a perfect one, I should have never have joined one at all; and the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us.”

No, the church is not perfect. But Jesus assures us that the church—believers for whom he has shed his blood—is his beloved bride and he is coming soon to restore her to her holy splendor.

“…Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior……Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:23-27)

If Christ treasures his bride, the church, so highly, should we value her less?

---

Last year, Gospel-Centered Discipleship (GCD) published several articles on the blessings of the local church. The goal of the series was to shine a light upon the ordinary, quiet, non-newsworthy stories of love, sacrifice, beauty and hope that take place in churches everyday around the world. Why? To encourage the discouraged within the church, to remind all of us of the assurance we hope for yet cannot see. The church may be broken, but she is beautiful, and we need reminding. These articles have now been gathered into a book just released this week by GCD entitled Broken but Beautiful: Reflections on the Blessings of the Local Church.

I’m so excited to say that I am a part of this new release! The very first article I had published outside of this blog, The Unexpected Blessing of a Rural Church, has been included in this book. It’s humbling to know that the Lord would take the story of an ordinary believer who has been blessed beyond measure by her simple, rural church, and let it be a testimony to the big, wide world to the glory of Christ.

Would you like to be encouraged, reminded of the beauty of the local church? Do you know a pastor or weary servant who could use this reminder? May I encourage you to purchase the book and gift it along to those who so faithfully serve.

Canadians you can find it on Amazon.ca

Americans, you can find it on Amazon.com

The book is available in e-book as well.

Bulk orders (20 or more) direct from GCD

May you be blessed in reading!