Spend more than a few weeks in the heart of a church and you discover that church is messy.
I can see it in the face of first-timers, that look of, “Wow, this is what we’ve been looking for!” You know, that euphoric, honeymoon, shiny-new-car feeling. “We finally found a clean, tidied-up, everyone-loves-each-other, there-are-no-problems church.”
Then two months later, their faces look different. The shine has worn off. The realization came: “This is a messy church.”
But even Paul had to deal with messy churches. No church is perfect, and if it’s growing and the Spirit is working, it’s messy.
Here are three reasons why church gets messy, and why that’s a good thing.
The Church is messy because I’m in it.
As a matter of fact, the church is messy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If I were to act like our church were not messy, I would be lying, because I am in it! I might be the messiest person in our church!
I resonate with the apostle Paul when he said:
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15, NIV)
The messiness of the church has allowed me to fit right in.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”
The Church is messy because others are in it.
If you don’t have messy people in your church, it means you’re not doing a good enough job of reaching the people God wants to reach.
“For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13b, NIV)
Paradoxically, it’s amazing what happens when we’re okay with that. The church becomes healthier because we have become messier.
(You might want to read that last line twice.)
If we’re reaching those whom we are supposed to reach, then we are reaching messy people. Welcome to church!
“For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The Church is messy because God is working.
I like how Ray Ortlund put it: “When God moves in reviving power, a church might get worse—at the level of appearances, anyway. Why? Because real problems that had been submerged force their way to the surface, consciences long for relief, the Spirit presses us to come clean.” According to 1 John 1:7,
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, NIV)
If we walk in the light. It’s when we start telling the truth about who we are. It’s when we stop hiding our sin and dark spots. It’s when we stop blame-shifting our problems. It’s when we call sin, sin. It’s walking in the light.
In church, we bring our untrue beliefs into the light of truth. Beliefs such as:
- “But this is my personality, so I can’t help it.”
- “My spouse has changed, so I have no choice but to behave this way.”
- “Look at how I’ve been wounded.”
- “No one expects us to obey all that’s in the Bible. It’s just too hard.”
- “It’s just my genetic disposition.”
Walking in the light means no longer needing to look better than we really are.
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”
As he is in the light. If we walk in secrecy, we cannot experience God. He is not located in self-concealment. This verse tells us where to find God: in truth and authenticity.
When we step out into the light, we discover two things: we discover Jesus and fellowship with one another.
We have fellowship with one another. When we come clean with each other, we discover walls falling down and grace being offered. We stop guarding our appearances; thus, we stop merely playing church. It’s called fellowship.
In fellowship, we find out we’re all sinners. We’re all prone to sin. We’re all regretful of that. Sympathy begins to flow in a community of grace. We discover the most delightful people in the world are sinners gathering humbly around the cross of Christ. We stop competing with one another and start comforting one another. Fellowship.
The blood of Jesus purifies us. When we come clean, humble and honest, we discover in our most shameful, haunting sins the point that Jesus loves us most tenderly.
Reach church isn’t just a support group. It’s a transformative group. Why? Because the blood of Jesus is here. In his blood, we are set free in a way we’ve never experienced before. We experience fellowship in a way we’ve never experienced before. We experience healing in a way we’ve never experienced before.
A healthy church is a messy church, and I’m so glad it is!
