What if the Church isn’t really broken?
What if the purpose of the Church is for broken people?

The “liturgy” in my church is not really liturgy. The liturgy in my church is the Sermon notes. In our bulletin each Sunday, we find the fill in the blank Sermon template. This concept was popularized by Rick Warren. 

I don’t always “fill in the blanks”. I do, however, take notes. Especially when my Pastor goes on a Holy Tear. I then stick my notes in my GYS (Give Your Story) folder for reference later. And here I am referencing one of those Holy Tears from back in January. 

My Pastor made a profound statement and I had to write it down. 

“The Church would be perfect if it weren’t for the people.”

I mean… It does speak TRUTH. And there are plenty of stories to spread around about REALLY BAD churches. 

Churches with power grabbing doctrines meant for the benefit of men.
Churches with sexual abuse scandals covered up by the church.
Churches with hierarchy interpretation and messaging of the Bible.
Churches that represent false doctrine that leads to sexism.
Churches that don’t even realize they value money more than Jesus.
Churches that follow the Pastor instead of following Jesus.

When we went through Acts in our Sunday school last year, there were defining moments for me in Acts 2-4. I began to create a theory. That theory is not entirely biblically correct in its language but, it started out like this:

“The Church was “perfect” for just a moment when it was first being formed.” 

In those early days of the formation of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles, we certainly do see something beautiful, united and spirit-filled. 

• Believers sharing everything (Acts 2:44-45)
• Deep fellowship and devotion (Acts 2:42)
• Unity of Heart and Purpose (Acts 4:32)

However, we quickly see the cracks in the foundation of the Church later in Acts.

• Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5)
• Complaints emerge about unfair distribution to the widows (Acts 6)
• Disagreements between Paul and Barnabus (Acts 15)

The picture we get of the Church was at best, the purest model we have ever seen of the Church, but the Church has never been without flaws.  It is more accurate to say that:

Acts gives the model of the Church, not a picture of perfection of the Church.  

We see brokenness in the Church from its onset. 

What if the Church isn’t really broken?
What if the purpose of the Church is for broken people?

And it is! However: 

This doesn’t mean that it is ok to accept the broken Church model of:

Churches with power grabbing doctrines meant for the benefit of men.
Churches with sexual abuse scandals covered up by the church.
Churches with hierarchy interpretation and messaging of the Bible.
Churches that represent false doctrine that leads to sexism.
Churches that don’t even realize they value money more than Jesus.
Churches that follow the Pastor instead of following Jesus.

It means we can do better than this.
It means we need to turn the tables.

It means we need to strive towards a Church that follows the example of JESUS.

Not a perfect Church – rather a faithful one.

A Church that doesn’t hide brokenness… but brings it into the light.
A Church that doesn’t protect power… but lays it down.
A Church that doesn’t elevate people… but points everything back to Christ.

Because the truth is – Jesus never came for perfect people.

Jesus came for the broken, the sinner, the outcast, the overlooked. And if that’s who He came for and that is exactly who His Church should be for.

So maybe the statement still stands:

“The Church would be perfect if it weren’t for the people.”

But maybe the better truth is this:

The Church exists because of the people.

Not the polished version.
Not the cleaned-up version.

But the real, flawed, struggling, growing people being transformed together.