Local churches are made up of sinners. There are those whose lifestyles do not match your standards. You will see obvious sin and hypocrisy in the lives of others. Yet, as has been often said, church is a hospital for sinners rather than a museum for saints. We are all sinner with deep problems. We need Jesus, we need the Spirit to change us over time, and we need the help of other imperfect believers as we get there.

All of us have different experiences of church. We can get frustrated with other people or tired from our service. We can feel as if no-one speaks to us or overwhelmed that there are too many people to speak to. We can notice all the problems with our local church on some days and rejoice at God’s goodness to our local church on others. As many people consider the big issues in their lives during January, make sure you are thinking rightly about church this year.

Do you love Jesus, but not the church? It’s a popular view. It sounds so logical and modern and enlightened. After all, most of us have had poor experiences with the local church at some stage in our lives. The problem is that the local church is central to God’s work in the world. When people came to know Jesus in Acts, they immediately started meeting together. When Paul spends three chapters in Ephesians 1-3 explaining what Jesus has accomplished for believers, he emphasizes that we are united together (Eph 1:10, 22-23, 2:19-22). So many instructions for Christians make no sense if done by ourselves (such as to “be completely humble and gentle”, Eph 4:2). There are many commands for Christians to do things to one another (love, bear with etc). If you are a Christian, you should be active in a local church, despite the challenges and difficulties that come with that.

Are you disappointed with the other people at church? If not, you will be! Local churches are made up of sinners. There are those whose lifestyles do not match your standards. You will see obvious sin and hypocrisy in the lives of others. Yet, as has been often said, church is a hospital for sinners rather than a museum for saints. We are all sinner with deep problems. We need Jesus, we need the Spirit to change us over time, and we need the help of other imperfect believers as we get there.

In our assessment of other believers, we are usually failing to see our own sin. We don’t want to become judgmental and only picking on the problems we see in the lives of others.

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