Church is Messy

I went to church this morning for a cleaning day, it was great to see so many folks give up a chunk of Saturday to polish, trim, sanitize, and pressure wash God's house inside and out. It was especially heartwarming to see families there. I love it when Mom's and Dad's model what they want their kids to grow up doing.

As I did my part, I thought of how messy church is. I'm not talking about the wadded up Kleenex under the pew or the "quarterly" from Spring of 2010. Side-note - many years ago I had a friend who would strategically place a candy wrapper on the floor during worship so she could see if anyone had cleaned when she returned the following Sunday. Are you rolling your eyes? I know, right?

Back to point, church is messy. Perhaps my friend of old illustrates the point. The Church is not the building, its people. The Church is people who get together, hopefully often, to learn, worship, fellowship, grow, and take care of one another.

I have a special birds eye view of the Church. As a pastor's wife, I get to witness and be a part of the Church at its best. It is also very much a part of my life when the Church struggles.

We (meaning people who profess Jesus as Savior) are all on our own journey to know Him better and love Him more. We all have our own baggage. Some of us learned a long time ago how to give it God and allow Him to use life's hurts to make us more like Him. Others of us aren't there yet.

And we're all messy.

We get our feelings hurt.

We struggle with forgiveness.

We misunderstand one another.

We make assumptions.

We feel insecure.

We want to make a difference and often aren't sure how.

Yes, the Church is messy.

Even so, I wouldn't walk away from this beautiful family for anything. I'm glad we are all in this together. We can all say "He's still workin' on me" and maybe give each other a bit more room to be imperfect.

May I speak to you from the heart of a Pastor's wife? Don't be too hard on those around you who wear their baggage like a backpack. Be kind and show grace. Tomorrow it might be you dragging a heavy bag around.

  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

I am excited to get up in the morning, put my best foot forward, and go to church. I love walking into a room that shines and smells lemony fresh! I'm asking God to use me to help carry someone's bag tomorrow too.

Because, until we all get to heaven, Church is messy.