If Christ is the head of the church, a lot of the world imagines the church to be like the clown body painted on plywood with Christ’s head in the hole – a disconnect, not real, not to be taken seriously.
What’s right about the church? What’s right about those who are on the inside? What’s right about gathering together as God’s people. Paul declares: “Much in every way!” /// Do you want to feel good, then take Paul’s declaration to heart: “Much in every way.” I told one person recently, “you are a good person.” A few days later the woman said to me, “You telling me I was good helped me.” The church is good. God’s people have advantages! The Church has advantages. Can a person be saved apart from being in a church? Absolutely! Yet there are advantages to the church. There is a lot of good in the people whom God has chosen, a lot of good in those who have been given the spirit of God – you may think there are no advantages, you may think the negative outweighs the positive, yet Paul is saying the advantages far outweigh anything negative you can possibly experience or imagine… When Paul says to the Church at Rome, “What advantage is there in being a Jew?” he was answering an implicit question – the people were trying to figure out the relationship between being a Jew and being a Christian. Like the clown body with the head of Christ…doesn’t quite seem to fit.
What’s right about the church? I’d like to say we are friendly, we have good programs, we do good things in the community, we have a very handsome and smart pastor/// the problem with any of those answers are that we are imperfect with most of them…the problem is that it is not my place to make a declaration. I could give you my personal opinion… but I cannot make absolute statements because that is up to every person that comes in contact with us…
Paul gives a primary answer at the top of the list, what’s right about the church?: “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” What’s right with the Jews, what’s right with the people of God, what’s right with the church?” God trusts them with his Words. God trusts us. Have you ever experienced that amazing feeling when somebody trusts you?
Through Seeds of Hope many people are helped in a variety of ways. Organizing their life, practical helps, transportation, finding needed services…what will make one of the biggest differences is when we put our trust in other people. Adults trusting youth that have never felt the affirmation of being trusted is incredible: “I trust you” is a tremendous gift that will transform lives. I am a naturally reserved person, one of the most amazing gifts I have ever received is when the Sumas Advent Christian Church said to Carl Crouse, “we would like you to be our pastor” in essence saying, “We trust you.”
When we first think of what we like or don’t like about the church we think of the programs, how well we sing/worship, how friendly are the people. What Paul says goes much deeper… What’s right about the church is not our character, but the person of God. What’s right about the church is that// God trusts the church. As the scripture continues, clearly the church is far from perfect, yet that does not take away the trust the Lord Jesus Christ has placed in the church. The Church is not Christ, but the church is entrusted with the Words of God. By Words of God, that means who he is, his message, what his most important to God…
Years ago back in the days of seminary, I worked at the front desk of the registrar’s office. One of my jobs was to verify the number of classes graduate students were taking for the purpose of deferring payments on their financial aid. I looked up the classes, wrote a letter to say how many credits the student was taking, used the signature stamp of the registrar, and the embossing symbol of the school to complete the verification. I was a lowly worker, but I was trusted by the registrar and school to officially represent the school. On more than one occasion, an irate student would come with a copy of the letter and tell me it was wrong, so I’d verify the information and either correct it or tell them it was right. Many times they would want to talk directly to the registrar. The registrar would stand in the office, read over the letter that he had never seen but had his name on it, it was the registrar’s words entrusted to me. He owned the words. He affirmed the accuracy of the words. He said the same thing I had just told the student. David Kiefer, registrar of Fuller Theological Seminary, entrusted me with his words.
What’s right about the Jews/church? “They have been entrusted with the very words of God.” That ought to sober you up. So you have an imperfect Church! Does that nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all. God is still trusting the Church. What’s right about the Church? God. The people are imperfect// In Rom. 3:3-8, the bottom line is that the people of God are not even close to perfect. Paul draws such a stark contrast in Rom. 3:4, that he even declares God is true and every man is a liar – he is highlighting the stark nature of the imperfect ways of those who make up the church.
A lot of people/Christians reject the Church. I’m not talking about Christians that because of illness or other life circumstances that don’t allow them to attend or be involved in a church, I’m talking good Christian people that simply don’t like the church. What are they rejecting? The imperfect character of the people. That goes with the territory. God trusts imperfect people! The Church has been entrusted with the Word of God, the desires of God, the mission of God, the message of God…. Paul goes on and plays with a logical conclusion that really does not hold water… (Rom. 3:5-8). Paul addresses a false idea that if our purpose is to put a spotlight on God, then that means the worse we are as people the better God will look, therefore, being a sinful person is a bonus to God – “Let us do evil so that good may result!”
That sounds logical, but it is false. What’s right about the church is that the church is entrusted with the word of God. The Church is right that seeks to be transformed by the Word of God, uphold the Word of God, live by the Word of God. A Church does not need to be perfect in every way to be right, the rightness comes not in what the church is, but rather a church is right in where it is pointing.
My job is not to sit at the registrar’s desk and point out to students what a wonderful receptionist I am, my job is not to do such a lousy job that the registrar looks really good, but my purpose is to point to the registrar and the accuracy of the records that have been entrusted to me. The Church’s job is to seek to be changed by the word of God, and to be used by God to make a difference to others because of the message entrusted to her care. The measure of the rightness of a church is not how perfect the people are, but the measure is how much does the church point to the Word of God, seek to live by the Word of God, minister in the name of Christ. What’s right about the Church is not the people. What’s right is the Lord Jesus Christ who lives among the people, as imperfect as we are. I do not know if we are a friendly church or not, I’ll let others weigh in on that… but, I say without reservation, What’s right about us is that we are a church seeking to glorify God, to grow in our faith, because the Lord has entrusted us with his word. We may not have everything down to perfection, we probably have a few funny ideas, we are not big enough to meet every possible need society sometimes wants in a church, we may not have the greatest preaching or the best singers on the face of the earth, but God trusts us. Romans 3:28: “A man is justified by faith..” Not what we are but who we trust, who we exalt, who we worship, who we invite to transform us. God is what is right about us!
A teacher selects a young student to carry a paper to another classroom. Being trusted is an amazing gift. The Church and Christians fall far short of perfection, but what is amazing is that God has placed his trust in us. there are only three possible categories for what people find wrong with churches: churches don’t think the right things (doctrine), Churches don’t evoke the right feelings (worship, loving towards neighbors, etc.) or they don’t do the right things (ministry, programs, outreach, evangelism, etc). Every church can be criticized for all three of those categories, what they think, feel or do… Paul says churches fall short in every human measure… but the church that is entrusted by God with his Word outweighs all our faults.
I love the way Romans 3 starts out as if Paul has a long list of all the advantages of being the people of God, “Much in every way.” and then he only gets to one thought: “First of all, they have been entrusted with the word of God.” Nothing else is on his list. Maybe he only has one item on his list because the trust God places in his people is the foundation for everything else that is right with the church. From God’s trust flows abundance.
Phil. 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…” The trust God places in his people is an incredible transforming gift creating the church into a supernatural organization. May the trust of God empower us to do even greater things in his name. God has every reason to not trust us, yet he does trust us. May God’s trust change us, cause us to raise our standards as we submit ourselves to him.
What’s right with the church? God trusts us. Incredible!