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The Bride of Christ
- 06/24/10
- 31
It’s easy to grow discouraged at the state of the church. As a person who invests a lot of time and attention to studying the church, her health and what Jesus requires of her, I often find myself prone to lamenting her state. Writers from all backgrounds and denominations have written about the church, and I have read many of these books and publications. The standard book begins with a few chapters outlining all the ways the church has failed with the rest of the book providing the solution. If only we did this or that or the other thing, we would make the church what she was intended to be. I haven’t read too many books that give the church a pat on the back and say “good job!” Maybe for good reason. Maybe not. When I wrote The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment I was deliberate in not doing that, in not giving a long list of all the ways the church has failed. What real value would there be in spreading that seed of discouragement?
Here are just a couple of examples of people who have taken on the church in recent years. Rick Warren wrote the mega-seller The Purpose Driven Church and in it he proclaimed that the church has lost sight of her purpose and that God was calling her to rediscover it. Millions of pastors bought and read this book and began what Warren refers to as the Second Reformation—a Reformation of purpose. A couple of years ago I counted six or seven books in the Christian bookstore heralding “the next Reformation,” yet all of them pointed towards a different basis for this Reformation. The men and women of the Emergent community (does anyone even remember Emergent anymore?) continually wrote indictments of the church, showing how, in their view, she has failed in the modern world and is primed to be an even greater failure in the postmodern world. A person who was fully immersed in the emerging church sent me an email once and wrote about “denominational distinctives that strive to keep us divided” as if churches are purposely focusing on the distinctives in order to drive wedges between them and other believers. There are any number of other authors that identify problems and tell us how to fix them. Many people are proud to be believers, yet are ashamed to be part of the church, the visible body of Christ. They portray the church as being purposeless, intellectual and ancient, knowingly and joyfully trapped in the past, snickering as we watch our neighbors fall into the abyss.
Yet the church is not a failure; the church—the remnant of those who are faithful, who compose only a part of the wider, visible church, remain true to Christ and continue to do God’s work in the world. Jesus himself told us that the road to salvation is narrow and only a few enter, so we should not be surprised when there are far more who turn their backs than respond with joy. We mourn their loss but trust in God’s sovereignty in saving a people to himself. This I can guarantee: 100% of God’s people have been (or will be!) ministered to and shaped by the Word of God. Every one of them has heard the preaching of a minister of the Word or has read a Bible lovingly and obediently translated. Every one of them has been successfully ministered to by another Christian. Why then do we dwell so often and sometimes exclusively on our failures and shortcomings? Does this honor God and glorify him for the battles that have been won and the lives he has changed through us?
Too often we see the church as an abject failure. I used to receive regular emails from a friend who has a high view of his own sin. He tends to sign his emails as “your sinful, spiteful, hell-deserving sinner of a friend” or something else along those lines. He never hides from his own sin, and I admire that. And while it is fully true that he is a sinner and no doubt feels spite and malice and while he does deserve hell, this is only half the story. In his view of his sin I think he often loses sight of the fact that in God’s eyes he is now a beautiful new creation, restored to the image of the Creator. He has been bought with precious blood and adopted into the family of the king! I continually have to remind him that he is focusing on only half of the battle. His emphasis on his sin does not allow him to see the beauty of what he has become. And I think this is how the church often sees itself—it sees the bad and loses track of all the great things that the church has accomplished through Christ and for the glory of God. It sees in the church the image of sinful humanity but loses sight of the fact that the church is the beautiful bride of Christ.
The church, despite sin and failings and shortcomings and imperfections of all sorts is a glorious body and one that I know Christ is proud of. I know that there is so much more we could do, and must do. I know the church is not all that God wants it to be. Yet I am confident that it brings him glory and makes him proud.
So if you are part of this body, allow yourself a moment of gratitude and awe for what God has done in and through his body; thank God that you can be part of something so awesome, so glorious, so godly. And then put your hand to the plow and continue the work he has entrusted to us.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (31)
Thanks Mr Challies.
Your reminder of your friend’s emails reminds me of what Paul says:
2 Cor 5: 16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.b The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconcilingc the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
http://www.newcreation.org.au/
The church is triumphant and the gates of hell will not prevail against it! Despite the despise, and the wartiness!
Thank you so much for this encouragement! Greatly needed in this hour frankly.
Tim — Thank you. Timely. Needed. I am encouraged. I have fresh hope.
Thank you, Tim. This post was the first thing I read this morning. Very encouraging - got my day off to a good start.
Craig B
p.s. (Yeah, I know; I should’ve begun the day with a psalm : )
Great post, and very encouraging. I love your blog.
Tim - First, I want to thank the Lord Jesus for your ministry. it has been a great benefit to me.
Secondly, when I came to your site today, I was glad to see you were posting about the Church. This is such a huge issue. I have been meeting more and more people who have bought into the lie that God has judged the Church. The Holy Spirit has left the church and is no longer the visible presence. In fact, they say there is no visible presence anymore, there is only the Holy Spirit working in individual believers. They support this view from Revelation 2. Jesus told the Ephesian church that if they did not return to their first love, He would remove their lampstand. It is said that the Churches in Revelation represent all the different ages of Church History. The Ephesian Church represents the NT Church and as you can see the state of the Church today is in shambles so Christ must have removed their lampstand. Coupled with this false view is the terrible way the Scripture is mishandled. They claim exegesis is man’s thinking and the only way to properly understand the Bible is by the Holy Spirit revealing the true and spiritual meaning of a text. So, when Jesus tells the Laodecians they are neither hot nor cold, that is paired up with the tongues of Fire at pentecost, because fire is hot and represents being spiritual. That it makes it very difficult to show they are wrong, because the Holy Spirit showed them that connection. They will not and do not accept exegesis and exposition as a valid way of interpreting the Scripture.
Anyway, I think this view needs to be dealt with. Has anyone else encountered this way of thinking? What verses about the Church come to your mind to show the danger of this view? I think this is a topic that needs to be discussed and the people of God need to comabat this terrible and dangerous view. Thoughts?
Mike D
The Church is not messed up or covered with warts or any of the other ways we describe it. It is the manifestation of the Church gathered that is the problem. We seem unable to distinguish between the two and because of that we get the outraged defenses of the institutional church as if that person is defending the honor of the Bride of Christ, leading to “How can you say you love Jesus but hate His wife!?” and other inane proclamations. Until we get back to a Biblical understanding of what the Church is and why we gather, we will continue to see the visible gathering of the Church characterized by empty rituals and rote religious observation. We should cherish and love the Body of Christ, His blood bought Bride, but we shouldn’t let that love be used to silence those who question the traditions of man that have controlled the gathering of the Church for some 1500+ years.
Thank you for this timely reminder of our blessings in the Church! Though the visible Church is far from perfect she is the chosen bride of Christ and He works in and through her to accomplish His good and perfect will. How I love my church, warts and all!
I’ve been reading you, “silently,” for a year, and I can’t tell you had grateful I am to hear someone call an end to church bashing. The church that I work for and I myself have a very high view of church, and it’s hard enough to explain to believers why church is important without church leaders themselves feeding this deep and pervasive cynicism that produces disconnected, self-focused, and ultimately fruitless Christians. Thank you, Tim. May God strengthen your heart, mind and hands for his purposes for years to come.
Great points that should remind us that the Church is the community of believers, not the sum of the people sitting in particular buildings on Sundays. These “problem/solution” authors do not separate the two groups. They hemorrhage sensational statements like “members of the church are turning away from the faith in larger numbers than ever before, never to return. All is lost!” Members of the Church are doing no such thing. Members of churches certainly are. There is reason for Christians to roll up their sleeves higher than before, but the “state of the church” doom and gloom that saturates Christian book stores and lines the pockets of good-intentioned fear mongers is uncalled for.
Mark Driscoll has a great study that I believe if every church leader would read and apply the state of the church would truely be a different one. “Pray then Act, NOT VICE-VERSA”: http://wp.me/pAliF-rQ
Thank you, Tim, for this post. Your friend reminds me of a quote attributed to Martin Luther, “Simultaneously justified and a sinner”. I have this written at the front of my Bible. It helps me keep perspective on myself and other believers.
Great article. Of course, we as humans are prone to fail in and out of church. It’s high time we shift our focus from self, and our efforts to perfect the church, to God and His sovereignty in saving a people to himself. God’s hands are not tied and HE can and will work in spite of our human failures!
Tim,
This entry is a message of spiritual refreshment for me (and others too). I too have been noting what has been going on in nominally evangelical church circles for a number of years. That sense of “all is lost” has crossed my mind a few times during those years.
Several months back, while reading the Lord Jesus’ parable about the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13.24-30) a thought occurred to me. While I know that the main interpretation is “sons of the kingdom”/”sons of the world” as the wheat and tares (the Lord actually provides the interpretation in Matthew 13.36-43), I could not help but think that the principle may apply to the church as well. There are visible and lamentable problems in the church (the tares). Yet, while these tares are maturing into their final form, so is the wheat. Those who are truly the Church are also doing remarkable, God-glorifying things in Christ’s name at the same time.
One example should suffice. Over the years, I’ve lamented the growth of alleged worship music in many churches which some have referred to as “God is my girlfriend” songs. They could easily substitute as a love song sung by a boyfriend to a girlfriend. They would need little or no tweaking to be played in a secular setting. Yet, in the midst of those “tares” is maturing “wheat.” I point to the work of those such as Stuart Townend, and Keith & Kristyn Getty whose efforts have centered on bringing new hymns to the church (i.e. “In Christ Alone”; “O Church Arise”). They are purposely written to be singable, not tied to any one generation’s music styles and are theologically centered on Christ and the Gospel.
Thanks again for this encouragement.
Amen…. I get frustrated when people think they are the ones growing the church; when they despair because the church is not “united;” that we are somehow defeating Jesus’ prayer for His church…
The very Word of God, though Whom all was created prays for His church to the Creator and Sustainer of all the Universe, and it is I or we (???) who are the ones to answer this prayer? If it is we who must grow and unite the church, then we are most surely the ones to be most pitied. Where then is my confidence in all my prayers to the only Mediator, the One who is always interceding for me, if in this it is up to me?
You know, Tim, sometimes people have too much time on their hands. Sometimes it’s easy for a blog to “take on the world”. List all of our sins and take us to task. Maybe that’s necessary sometimes but it can be daunting when it’s repeated over and over.
Most people are at work supporting their families, at home taking care of children, cleaning up messes, visiting the sick, standing with the infirm, and holding the hands of the dying. They don’t have a lot of time to gripe and complain.
Every time a pastor or parishioner is standing by the bed side of someone who is ill, church happens. Every time a pastor and congregation come together over the death of a loved one, bringing meals, having services, standing by at funerals, church happens. Every time a group of raucous three year olds gather with their moms in the fellowship hall, church happens. Every time two or three or twenty believers lean over and peer into their Bibles at a Bible study, church happens. Every time a Christian prays with a broth or sister, church happens.
Want to find out if church is happening? Don’t go to the believer’s worship service. Go to church.
This is providentially perfect as I head back home from vacation.Thanks!
I have grown so weary of Debbie Downer Christianity, and long ago, perfected the art. It’s like we’re all hell-bent on being in a global state of Lenten self-flagellation. I read your article, and I sighed very deeply in relief. How nice to hear the good news again. Thanks, brother.
Tim, I agree and thank you. The other day I had a conversation with a friend who would like to sing Derek Webb’s song “Wedding Dress” in a service, but I expressed disagreement with that song for the reasons you give above. Christians do sin, that’s for sure, and we can be pretty thick and stubborn and even rebellious at times, but in no way are we to see ourselves as harlots. We were washed, we were cleansed… the new birth has changed everything. I appreciate this post!
Marvelous!
It’s important for us Americans to know a little about our brothers and sisters in other nations. The church in Nepal is quite different then ours, and yet it is one in the same.
The Church loves Jesus Christ, and honors Him. The Church loves the Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, the Bible.The Church worships the Father in Spirit and truth, and we shine for our Father in Christ, as the Holy Spirit flows though the Church as a river out of our bellies with life giving water.
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Nice post Tim.
“Yet the church is not a failure; the church—the remnant of those who are faithful, who compose only a part of the wider, visible church, remain true to Christ and continue to do God’s work in the world. Jesus himself told us that the road to salvation is narrow and only a few enter, so we should not be surprised when there are far more who turn their backs than respond with joy. We mourn their loss but trust in God’s sovereignty in saving a people to himself. This I can guarantee: 100% of God’s people have been (or will be!) ministered to and shaped by the Word of God. Every one of them has heard the preaching of a minister of the Word or has read a Bible lovingly and obediently translated. Every one of them has been successfully ministered to by another Christian”
Tim, this, is so refreshing and encouraging. It is true that when scripture permeates one’ s life, he echoes truth without quoting all the scriptures in the bible.May God grant us all grace to let Him be God and wisdom to acknowledge we’re only but his temple, followers, worshippers, servants and sons.
Church bashing and a “Debbie Downer” mentality doesn’t get us anywhere, but honest evaluation does. The church has not and cannot fail in an ultimate sense. The church is God’s project and Christ’s bride—there will be a wedding feast.Still, there are failings. Those who are a part of the church have been touched, but there should be so many more.Methodology is not the problem. Being smart about how we reach out doesn’t hurt, but it’s no kind of core. Genuine, shared dedication to and passion for Jesus is what unifies the church. When that is modeled on a personal level in the discipleship process the church will produce more fruit.We can be so thankful that we are the bride of Christ—that He Cherishes us, that He delights in us, that He is proud of us. I’m just not so sure that I can go with a collective pat on the back for being what we ought to be. I don’t think we are.
Thank you for these words. I will take them to the Lord.
Any Church is going to have warts and scars because it is a redeemed people , being transformed. We are justified but sinners still. Therefore no matter if we implement a 9 Marks program or attend MacArthur’s Church , being involved in local fellowship we will disagree , see real pain,sin but we will also experience forgiveness ,growth and reconciliation. Plus speaking as one who stood outside yelling at the warts and sins , I now realize the means of grace , hearing the word preached ,the Lords supper and baptism are wonderful gifts to us that can only be a reality within the Church.Christ died for the Church , I love her with a new found love .
Thank you for the great information. I am a fellow church worker and it is amazing the decline of the church attendance. I think it is easy to forget that “we are the church” and that the church is everywhere not just inside of a building.
Hi Tim,
I came across your blog for the first time today. Good stuff.
If you focus on much of the church in the U.S. and Europe, you can find decay and decline, but I’m happy to report that Jesus’ Bride is alive and well all around the world!
I pastor a church in Oceanside, CA that has seen 4 people, on average come to Christ every day this year. I have a friend who founded Dynamic Church Planting International. They’ll plant 8,000+ churches around the world this year, and are on pace to plant 1,000,000 by 2022. I have another friend who founded Global Media Outreach. They’re seeing 1.2 million come to Christ via the internet each month. He believes they’ll have “the gospel preached to all nations” by 2020.
God’s Spirit is powerful and transforming lives all around the world.
The church may have warts, but she has the power of Christ as well.
Blessings to you!
Jesus said that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. God uses and has always used imperfect people to accomplish His purposes. That does not mean we should simply accept the status quo and not press on to be more like Christ. But the quick fixes and magic formulas that people offer to “solve” all of our current deficiencies can be worse then the problems.
encouraging. thanks tim!
Dear Tim,
This is a great read, and a much needed corrective. Thank you for the timely message.
These are precious words, Tim!
“…and while he does deserve hell, this is only half the story. In his view of his sin I think he often loses sight of the fact that in God’s eyes he is now a beautiful new creation, restored to the image of the Creator. He has been bought with precious blood and adopted into the family of the king!”