Regardless of our opinions on our individual home churches, it’s still important to look at them through the lens of Jesus. No one is perfect, and that applies to churches, too. All that being said, has the modern church—generally speaking—lost its way? I think so, yes. And I think Jesus would agree. Here are some things that, in my opinion, Jesus might tell the church today (written in “I am” statements because Jesus had a penchant for those in His earthly life):
1. “I am God.”
Jesus isn’t separate from the God of the Old Testament. He is the perfect revelation of God. He is God. He says, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Yet so often, the church tries to separate the two—even unintentionally. And in doing so, we miss out on fully understanding God’s character.
2. “I am good.”
He is good, and He wants good things for us. He doesn’t ask for a life of misery. (Asceticism was already called out a long time ago, in case some of us have forgotten.) Yet also, because He is good, He cannot condone that which is not good for us. He cannot support our sin because that would be supporting our downfall. And that is against His nature.
3. “I am the only Way.”
He says “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Yet how often do we try to get to heaven (the Father) by what we do? We are expected to do good work, of course. But that’s not what saves us. We won’t get to heaven based on the length of our quiet times or the amount of our offering donation.
4. “I am full of mercy.”
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God isn’t out to get us. He isn’t sitting in heaven condemning us. Jesus came to save the world, not condemn it. Many churches are less forgiving of sin than God. And yet, God stands ready and willing to forgive us anytime we come to Him. Churches should model that mercy to a hurting world, not turn people away in judgment.
5. “I am an equalizer.”
“In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female” (Galatians 3:28). Jesus came to raise the valleys and lower the mountains, to make the last first and the first last. Jesus stands for equality. He does not stand for the suppression of women in places that claim His name. We should not have churches known as “the rich church,” where other children of God are afraid to enter. In Christ, the playing field is leveled.
6. “I am able to handle your doubts.”
Many conservative Christian leaders have shut down the notion of deconstruction. They call it simply a way to justify our sin. Really, though, it’s that they’re discouraging doubt. It’s that they believe absolute certainty is the only mindset for a believer. As if Jesus, the Creator of the universe and Conqueror of death, can’t handle our doubts and our questions. He absolutely can, and churches should be making room for them.
7. “I am the ‘least of these.'”
Jesus is the poor, the oppressed, the imprisoned, the outcast, and the forgotten. “What you have done to the least of these, you have done to me” (Matthew 25:40) Most churches do a fairly good job of giving to the needy. But do we get in and get our hands dirty? Do we sit with people whose sin we deem greater than our own, and seek to know them, strive to love them? Or do we just like to write a check, and check it off the list?
8. “I know you fully.”
Regardless of what we preach or post on Facebook…He knows our hearts. He sees when a church preaches modesty, yet the pastor shows up to preach in $1,000 sneakers. He sees when a church preaches love, and yet has nothing but hate for those who they deem sinners (by their own authority). Congregation members may not see through the act…but Jesus does.
9. “I am not to be fully known.”
Many churches now will deem a person “unsaved” based on a disagreement regarding a secondary doctrine. And don’t get me wrong, doctrine is important. But the thing is, we cannot fully know Jesus in this life. We should not be breaking fellowship with other children of God in the name of being right. Because none of us are fully right. None of us know everything. It’s time to stop acting like we are the ultimate authority on God.
10. “I am not in need of a marketing team.”
Well, actually, maybe He is…But that’s our fault. Jesus, on His own, doesn’t need us to make him look good. He is good. He is fully capable of reaching people without our added charisma. Where our work comes in now is convincing the world that the church is, or should be, good. We’ve really dug ourselves into a hole here.
11. “I love to see your joy.”
Jesus doesn’t ask us to be so somber all the time. He doesn’t ask us to be in constant mourning over our sins. Spending every Sunday preaching on hell, on how wretched we are, does not reflect the heart of Jesus. If we believe in Him, he has made us clean and turned our mourning into dancing! Let’s lighten up, a bit!
12. “I am bigger than the Bible.”
The Bible is important, sure. But the first followers of Jesus didn’t have it—not the whole thing, anyway. We use the Bible, a book written centuries ago to a very specific audience, as a way to limit God. The Bible is meant to reveal God’s plan for the world. It’s not a tool for our own agendas. The Bible is about God but it, in itself, is not Him.
13. “I am what holds you together.”
Not the style of our music. Not the presence of pews or chairs. Not even the pastor can truly be the center of and hold together the church. We aren’t that powerful. The church should be centered solely around Jesus and His gospel: the good news of salvation and the love of God. Too often, we get wrapped up in the cosmetics of it all—on the looks, on the experience. But Jesus is the whole point and, too often, we let Him get lost.
14. “I am not just the beginning, but the middle and the end.”
Our mission, as Christians, does not end with baptism. Being saved by Jesus is only the beginning! Yet, too often, we make baptizing the end goal of our evangelism. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” not “Go and make converts.” We should be teaching that salvation is the start, and then we live the journey of sanctification until we spend eternity in glory at the end.
15. “I am love.”
Jesus is not judgment. He is not hate. He is not a tool to be used for prejudice. God is love, and “whoever does not love does not know God” (1 John 4:8) . Every decision we make, as Christians and as churches, should be rooted in love. If we do not root our entire mission in love, then we have absolutely missed the point.
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