There is not a week that goes by where I am not face to face with the reality of a very broken and very hurting world.

The consequence of sin on this world is seen in the broken marriages, broken dreams, overworked men, under appreciated women, drug abuse, alcohol addiction, prostitution, secret sins, sexual exploitation, out of control partying, depression, neglected families, wheels-off-finances, cutting, rape, physical and emotional abuse, etc.

My city is full of hurting people.  So is yours.  

This is why The Church matters.  Not the institution.  Not the logo or the label.  The Church.

God himself stepped down into this disgusting mess of a planet and offered redemption through His own sacrifice in the form of Jesus Christ.  According to John 3:17, Jesus didn’t offer condemnation but hope because as the text says, the world is already condemned.  Sometimes I think the church gets a kick out of being redundant.  The world is screwed up.  We get that.  Now can we get to the healing through Christ.  You can’t actually do that part without seeing sin face to face.  That part is hard.  That part is dirty.  That part makes me want to throw up on most days but it’s that part that matters.

Building a ‘church’ doesn’t matter if that church is a pile of manure in the middle of a field that needs to be cultivated.

After Jesus was bodily resurrected, the scripture gives a picture of Jesus’ body that is powerful and humbling.  That picture?  That body?  You and me.  

Assuming (and frankly this is a big assumption even among self-identified Christians) you have – repented of your sinful nature, received redemption through the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross and surrendered to Christ as Lord and Savior- you in fact have become part of HIS BODY.  The Church.  

The Church matters.  We are, in a very real way, the body of Jesus Christ.

When we are working with a young couple who got pregnant before knowing Christ… we are the body of Christ.

When we are loving on children who go home to homes full of drugs and violence… we are the body of Christ.

When we are helping a person in recovery from drug addiction… we are the body of Christ.

When we define people by their character, not their sexual sins… we are the body of Christ.

When we are counseling a woman not to run back to an abusive man… we are the body of Christ.

When we are teaching a young man how to treat his girlfriend with dignity… we are the body of Christ.

When we are helping a prostitute understand that she can feel loved without selling her body… we are the body of Christ.

When we are encouraging a teenage boy to finish High School and avoid the drug culture in his neighborhood… we are the body of Christ.

Every single one of those examples is a very real example of a very real person with a very real name whom I have worked with.

If the God of the bible does not exist we should be pitted.  The Apostle Paul says so in  1 Corinthians 15:14-22.

If Jesus Christ is not our atoning sacrifice for our sins and if He did not raise to life after the third day… the church is a worthless joke.

If however all of this is true… The Church matters more than any thought you have ever had to cross that substance between your ears called your mind.

• There is no corporation more powerful than God’s people who are powered by the Holy Spirit.
• There is no more compassionate N.G.O. in the world than the local church being the hands and feet of God.

There is no more accurate truth than the word of scripture properly understood and communicated.  

Let’s become the best of our beliefs!  The Church matters!