I sometimes hear people say things like the church disappoints them because it’s so imperfect.  They might even say the church caused them to lose faith or become “jaded” toward Christianity because of all the problems in it.  I may have said something like this before, to0.  We discover the saints of the church- Christians- are sinners, too.  This is nothing new.  Martin Luther described Christians as simultaneously “saints and sinners.”  Jesus said, “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)

The church is a place for sinners.  So we ought not to be surprised when the people sin.  The miracle of the church is not that it contains perfect and sinless people.  No, the miracle of the church is that despite the flaws and sins of the people, we still see Jesus in each other and we still find Christ in our midst.  In the midst of our imperfection, we find grace and mercy and love.  Even in all our differences and disagreements and squabbles, we discover we’re family, and we can look at one another and learn how to treat each other with love and grace.  We love, not because we’re perfect, but because God loves us even though we’re not.  Read Luke 5:27-32, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Annie