My friend and pastor, Dave Richards made a great post about something Holy Spirit had brought to his mind in prayer about the importance of loving the church. It stirred something inside of me about God’s house, the church, especially in these difficult times across the body of Christ of great failures in leadership and many disappointments.
I love God, but do I have to love the church?
- Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, (26) so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, (27) that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
In every generation there are Christians who profess a love for God while keeping the Church at arm’s length. Disappointment, hypocrisy (especially in all the recent leadership scandals being uncovered), wounds from others, or institutional failures often fuel this disconnect. Yet Scripture clearly does not allow us to separate love for God from love for His Church. BIBLICALLY SPEAKING, TO LOVE JESUS WHILE DISMISSING THE CHURCH IS A CONTRADICTION OF TERMS!
The New Testament is unambiguous: Christ loves the Church (Ephesians 5:25-27), and He defines authentic love for Him by how we relate to His people. The Church, with all her flaws, immaturity, and mess is the object of Christ’s sacrificial love. He hasn’t given up on her but is working to help her become perfect, heading towards the day when He returns to the earth for His marriage ceremony, “The marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:5-10).
Jesus does not simply preach to the church; He bled and died for her. He did not and has not abandoned her at her worst; He committed Himself to her maturity and future glory. To claim devotion to Christ while despising what He died for, and continues to build is spiritually impossible.
Jesus is Joined to the Church
Jesus did not just sacrifice for the church, He has actually joined her to Himself as His body, “Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (Colossians 1:17-19, see also Romans 12:1-6 etc.). Christ is the Head; the Church is His Body. No one would tolerate a person who claimed affection for someone’s head while detaching and despising their body.
I used to work in law enforcement and if I encountered someone who said they were okay with someone’s head but refused to interact with their body it would put them on my watch list as someone with potential to do something crazy and dangerous. I would never tell my wife that I only want to relate to her face, but I never want to see the rest of her body. That is crazy!!!
Unfortunately, many who believe in Jesus speak harshly, cynically, or dismissively about the Church. They will have nothing to do with her except tearing her down, all the while insisting their relationship with Jesus remains intact. This goes against God’s clear instruction. John makes this point unavoidable: “IF SOMEONE SAYS, ‘I LOVE GOD,’ AND HATES HIS BROTHER, HE IS A LIAR” (1 John 4:20). Love for God is tested and proven in love for God’s people. Not in the theoretical, but real, visible, imperfect brothers and sisters who walk together.
- 1 John 4:11-20 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (12) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us… God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him… (19) We love, because He first loved us. (20) If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
God’s church is not a building, an organization, or a meeting we attend. It is God’s family we belong to and walk together with.
God’s church is not an organization or meeting we attend. It is God’s family we belong to and walk together with. Paul tells believers, “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but… members of the household/family of God” (Ephesians 2:19-22). Salvation entails being adopted by God and being placed in His family, the church. God does not save individuals for isolation; He places them into His household/family for a shared life, with shared responsibility, and mutual care. To reject the Church is to resist the very salvation design of God.
This does not mean the Church is perfect. The New Testament itself contains rebukes, corrections, and calls to repentance directed at churches. But correction flows from love, not detachment. The apostolic pattern is never to abandon the church, but commitment with endurance. “Bearing with one another in love,” Paul says, “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:2–3). You only “bear with” what you have chosen to stay connected to. This is fleshed out in reality as the book of Hebrews commands us not to neglect gathering together (Hebrews 10:24–25). The early believers “devoted themselves” to FELLOWSHIP (Greek word, “Koinonia” which means “active participation,” Acts 2:42). Devotion implies priority, not convenience.
Ultimately, as His word declares, in His eternal purpose God has chosen to fill the earth and display His wisdom and glory through the Church (Ephesians 3:10-11). This is not Plan B. He is working to make the church into something marvelous in the earth, that reveals His life and glory.
Historical Example of Imperfections in Building and a Future Glory
Many of those who identify as God’s people refuse to embrace His design because they see the church as something less than what God desires. There is a historical story that reveals a major rejection by critics of something marvelous that was being built and a worldwide identity came as a result. See the story here.
It was commissioned to be built for an exposition at the World’s Fair in 1889 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The engineer Gustave Eiffel proposed a 300-meter iron tower, something unprecedented in scale and design. At the time, Paris, France was known for classical stone architecture and artistic beauty tied to tradition. The tower was skeletal, more like some sort of freak machine than a monument. It was called “monstrous” by the citizens of Paris. In 1887, a group of about 300 prominent artists, architects, writers, and intellectuals published a furious open letter in Le Temps newspaper, which has been referred to as “The Protest of the Artists.”
A contract was allowed for the tower to stand for about 20 years and it was scheduled for demolition in 1909. Many referred to it as a “Temporary Eyesore” which was meant to be torn down. One line of opposition became famous, “For twenty years we shall have to look at the odious shadow of the odious column of bolted sheet metal.” Another famous quote of public opposition said, “Art endures. Engineering experiments do not.”
They were wrong!
Today, the Eiffel Tower it is one of the architectural wonders of the modern world and stands as the primary landmark of Paris, France. The architect, Alexander Gustave Eiffel, pursued his vision despite the obstacles. Jesus is doing the same for another structure destined for glory, the church. He continues to build her, because He knows she is destined for greatness culminating at His return. He is joined to His church and never gives up building (Matthew 16:18-19), and neither should we.
Active Participation in “One Another” Life
How do we join Jesus in what He is building? Every member is to participate in one another life. The New Testament uses the word “One Another” 100 times in 94 verses and 59 of those times are direct commands of concrete action every member can take. Check out this document that shows the 59 commands and their modern day counterparts, 59 One Another’s. Never give up on what Jesus is building, but get up and participate.