I want you to keep in mind that the definition of the church – is the “ecclesia” – the “people of God” – the church is not a building, it is not a place, it is not wood, stone, plywood or sheet rock, it is the people. The church is – wherever the people of God are assembled.
And the people of God are not perfect…far from it. For the record: we never claimed to be….
These are something called: “The Paradoxical Commandments” and were written by a gentleman named Kent M. Keith. They are different.
Feel free to agree or disagree with them as the spirit moves you…
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Always give the world the best you have anyway.”
And C.S. Lewis wrote: “To be a Christian means to forgive the “inexcusable” because God has forgiven “the inexcusable in you.”
The early church had its trials and tribulations. It was not Utopic. The church never is. It is not “pie in the sky.”
It is and always has been nothing more than “imperfect community” living in -what is an “imperfect world.”
The concern of the early church was “how to handle conflict” – “conflict resolution, if you will…”
There is a famous – anonymous poem, entitled the “Perfect Church” and it goes like this…
“I think that I shall never see
A church that’s all it ought to be;
A church whose members never stray
Beyond the straight and narrow way!
A church that has no empty pews,
Whose pastor never has the blues,
A church whose deacons always seek
And none is proud, and all are meek;
Where gossips never peddle lies,
Or make complaints and criticize;
Where all are always sweet and kind
And to all others’ faults are blind.
Such perfect churches there may be,
But none of them are known to me.
But still we’ll work and pray and plan
To make our own the best we can.”
People have always expected more from us. After all, we are the church.
People have placed the church on all kinds of pedestals. People have placed “the people of the church” on all kinds of pedestals. Perhaps it is our own fault. Perhaps we have created a “false image” of who and what we are.
The church is not and never has been perfect. The church will never be perfect – until the day of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Until then, we just do the best we can. We pray, we hope, we dream and we attempt to help out others, as we are able. We support one another and we weep with those who weep and we rejoice with those who rejoice…
We are not always good. Nor are we always bad. We are both sinner and saint, as Luther pointed out…
And, we are trying…
When it comes to conflict and to conflict resolution within the church, I suggest we follow Jesus.
We love ‘em, anyway…
We forgive ‘em, anyway…
We pray for ‘em anyway…
And we hope only the best for ‘em, anyway…It is the Jesus thing to do. Amen.