"'The church is like Noah's ark. It stinks, but if you get out of it, you'll drown.' We are the church. If she were perfect, we'd mess her up as soon as we joined. So may we have some grace, even with those Christians and pastors who make us nauseated and put us to sleep. After all, they have given us enough of the story that we have been able to stumble into God and community. A friend just told us that perhaps we should relate to the church as a dysfunctional parent. We honor, submit to, and love her. But we do not allow her to destroy those we love with her dysfunction. We recognize that our beauty and our brokenness are inseparable from hers."--Shane Claiborne, Irresistible Revolution page 354-355.
Humbling. Challenging. How do we do it?
do you truly believe that the REAL church, those who have repented and believed Christ, stink? i think NOT mr. claiborne! yes, we fall short, but God's grace is abundant.
ReplyDeletethe Church does totally stink...
ReplyDeleteI would tread carefully and choose your words wisely in this matter. This is Christ's bride you are talking about. Be careful what you say about His bride.
ReplyDelete