You know what's really messing up church today? It's this idea that there's no perfect church, so don't look for one. It says, though the church is not perfect, it has a perfect GOD. And most people agree. But would a perfect GOD settle for an imperfect church? HE has already laid out in Scripture what HIS true church is. Through HIS love and Word, HE is preparing "a radiant church, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and pure," [Ephesians 5.25-27]
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Photo above by Ravi Pinisetti on Unsplash.
The Direction GOD Points us to
This is the direction for the church and all of us should be on this path from GOD. If we look anything different because we're taking a different path, we're running off course and should double back. We should get out of the devil's race track. At least, it should be in the church's heart to pursue the glorious-church course, though the church may miss the mark now and then. The imporant thing is we're on the right path--pursuing to be a glorious church of Jesus Christ--and not insisting that there's no perfect church. There is. It's the church Jesus died for and sanctifies.
Jesus also stressed that true believers should "be perfect" as their heavenly Father is perfect. A lot in church are mocking this passage, denying its truth and short of saying that Jesus wasn't really serious about perfection but merely alluding to it as some sort of figure of speech. At best, it's merely about perfecting our love. Agreed. And it should be what we look for in a church. If the church we attend doesn't have it--and worse, is not serious about it one bit--then we better start looking for another.
Then Anything Goes
Maintaining that there is no perfect church makes us water down or even disregard the standards GOD has put for HIS church, and this helps Satan's deception a lot in these last days. Anything goes in church as long as it is effective, packs in more people and makes lots of money. The devil makes sneezing at GOD's standards look okay and normal, at the same time making us feel approved by grace even with substandard spirituality. The Lord's warning should give us a good idea about what HIS standard is. If it's not enough that we prophecy and drive out demons, how much more if we trash GOD's standards?
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ [Matthew 7]
And insisting that there's no perfect church so don't look for one will put our guards down and make us part of the evil doers Jesus never knew, and this without us noticing it. Jesus told us to leave blind guides who are like plants the Father has not planted. When they're pulled out by the roots, we can be pulled out with them. The yeast of wrong churches (imperfect churches or those not in the path of perfection) can easily leaven up the whole dough, and Jesus told his disciples to beware of this yeast.
Leave Them!
Jesus saying we should leave blind guides is a powerful sign urging us to look for the perfect church and leave whatever does not take GOD's maxims and exemplars seriously. And it's a command, not a suggestion or wish. We have to watch what or who is blind and leave them. Peter and the apostles were far from being perfect as GOD wanted them to be, and the church they headed was far from being the glorious church at the time. But their path was right. They seriously pursued after the glorious church and determined to be that church, all by GOD's grace and mercy, solely by faith. They never said there was no perfect church and we should stop looking for one. They saw to it that no Pharisaical yeast was being mixed with their bread.
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
[Hebrews 12.15]
"...that by these (exceedingly great and precious promises) ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
[2 Peter 1.4]
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