A church that is real will not be too quick to judge but will rather be honest enough to recognise that each member sins, each member has their own struggles and each member – if they nevertheless love Jesus and want to obey his commands – is saved by grace and fully accepted by him. All of which means, we won’t be too quick to pronounce judgement recognising that we can all be judged.

You sometimes hear about people wanting church that is real. The other thing people sometimes hanker after is authenticity. But what is a church that is authentically itself? What does that kind of church look like? Here are some possible things.

Free to be individuals

A church that is authentically itself will have room for all the individuals that make it up to be themselves. Nobody will be expected to wear the formally or informally prescribed uniform. Rather, everyone is free to wear what they wear simply because it is what they would wear. Similarly, everybody is free to speak in the way they would naturally speak and talk about whatever it is that happens to be their particular points of interest. In all the ways that people might express their personality, ethnicity, culture and interests, a church that is real will gladly make room for such things.

Free to be honest

A church that is authentically itself will gladly be honest. There will be a culture of honesty – that probably starts with those at the top but reaches down throughout the church – that we can make our struggles known without fear of damning judgmentalism. Being honest about our many and varied struggles – physical, mental, spiritual – is a sign of being real.

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