The Thing About a Church

The Church is the Bride of Christ...becoming a member of a church is like entering into a marraige (or so this single girl thinks). It takes work, and the more you invest into it, the more you learn about it and see the good and the bad of it.

Sometimes in a relationship, you have an "off" day or week. Either you're not bringing your best, or your partner's not bringing their best, but whatever the case, it's just not the blessed picture or image you had in your brain when you first fell in love and got into this whole relationship. Maybe you learned something about your partner that is less-than-beautiful or lovely. Maybe they've made a decision that you don't agree with. Maybe they've hurt you unintentionally and it's hard to move past your wounds. But you made a decision long ago that you were in it for better or worse, and that divorce was not an option.

So it is for the church. A relationship. A group of human sinners set out to help each other be more like Christ. And some days are better than others. Some days, you see the beautiful and the lovely and the blessed. But as you spend more time on that relationship, you learn more about it, and while the relationship becomes richer, you also open yourself up to know the other side. The human side. The side that makes decisions that you don't always agree with. The side that may say or do something hurtful. You have an off day or week, or sometimes even longer. And you hurt. But if it's a real relationship- a true partnership- you don't give up. And you don't run away.

You keep going. You talk to God about what you can do to make it better, or how He wants to use this to help you grow. And you work harder and love more and wait and look for the beautiful and lovely to come back.