Loving and Sharing the Imperfect Church - November 7, 2010

Daily Lectionary Readings for November 7, 2010
Psalm 50
Joel 1:1-13
1 Corinthians 14:1-12
Matthew 20:1-16

1 Corinthians 14:1-12
Rob Warren, a good clergy friend here in the Louisville area who possesses an excellent sense of humor, once posted on their churches sign a message something like the following:  "We Aren't Full of Hypocrites:  We Have Room For More".  I love this and never grow tired of repeating it.  It's great in a number of ways one of my favorites of which is I think it works as a bit of a defense of the church.  As a person who loves the church it feels at times as though there is no end of people who want to take shots at the church.  For instance, the church is filled with hypocrites.  Well, yes, yes it is.  And maybe there are folks who would make the argument that the church is devoid of hypocrites, but as long as there are people in it we will struggle with hypocrisy in one way or another.  The quick summary of much of the critique of the church is that it is imperfect and filled with imperfect people.  And again, I'd say yes, it is surely imperfect and filled (well, maybe filled isn't the right word, filled may be too optimistic, peopled is probably better) with imperfect folks.  The goal of the church is not, in my estimation to airbrush away any signs of our sinfulness so that we may seem to be very near to perfection, but rather a place where people who are sinful, yet hopeful, selfish, yet compassionate, idolatrous, yet faithful can come together and aim at being something more than what we would be on our own.  I would not argue that we should be content with our sinful ways and fallen natures, but that it is in coming together and being honest about these less attractive attributes that we together can move a little closer to being the kingdom people God desires us to be.  It is important for those of us who are active in congregations to understand some of the misconceptions about what is going on in our gatherings or what some may believe we are aiming to accomplish with our worship and meetings and bazaars and potlucks.  One of our centrals tasks as followers of Jesus is building up the body.
Paul uses that phrase several times in the 1 Corinthians 14 passage which ostensibly is about speakingin tongues and prophecy and the relative merits of the two.  One could get caught up in the argument between tongues and prophecy, but I'm drawn to a phrase that is used as the yardstick for both of them, the critical piece for evaluation of their purpose and efficacy - building up the church.  Verses 4, 5 and 12 all contain some variation on this phrase.  Paul in this specific argument I believe gives us a broader measure for everything that we do as communiites of faith.  Be it a prophetic word or tongues or Tuesday morning prayer group or a yard sale a basic question should be does it build up the church.  Does it communicate the mission and ministry of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world and does it help those who may be on the outside looking in at our congregations understand better what we are about and invite them to join us in the journey.