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Christianity Today, July (Web-only), 2007 |

SoulWork

Grace—That's So Sick

The church seems to be an embarrassment to everyone except its Lord.

Mark Galli | posted 7/26/2007 08:27AM

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I do not mean to suggest that we should be indifferent to such sins. If books and conversations like the ones I've experienced prod Christians to change their ways, it will be all to the good. But the church is always in need of reform, and its behavior will always be a scandal to anyone with moral sensibilities.

When we invite people to follow Jesus, we're inviting them into the desperately sinful church that Jesus, for some odd reason, loves. To be a Christian—or whatever term you'd prefer—is to identify not just with Jesus or with the healthy church of our imagination, but also with the tragically dysfunctional church, which is mercifully embraced, if not by us, then certainly by the One who was a scandal in his own day.

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today. He is author ofJesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God (Baker). You are invited to comment below or on his blog.

Related Elsewhere:

Christine Scheller wrote about the troubled, redemptive church in 'Sorrow But No Regrets," from the July 2007 issue. "The Company of Sinners" and an editorial also address dysfunction and grace in the church.

Previous SoulWork columns include:

We Are Not Pregnant | The glory of men and women lies in their unbridgeable differences. (July 12, 2007)

Seeker Unfriendly | We need more than worship that makes sense. (June 14, 2007)

The Cost of Christian Education | Getting schooled in the faith is more unnerving than I care to admit. (May 31, 2007)

Surviving a Family-Wrecking Economy | What the church can do about working mothers. (May 17, 2007)

The Real Secret of the Universe | Why we disdain feel-good spirituality but shouldn't. (May 3, 2007)

Peace in a World of Massacre | What Jesus calls us to when we're most frightened. (April 17, 2007)

The Good Friday Life | We need something more than another moral imperative. (April 4, 2007)

I Love, Therefore You Are | Why the modern search for self ends in despair. (June 28, 2007)

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July (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51

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John	Posted: August 08, 2007 12:30 PM


I was taken aback by the author's comment that, "Jesus not only died for but also chooses to associate with sheltered, judgmental, proselytizing hypocrites." Seems to me from my reading of the Gospels that those were exactly the people Jesus condemned and chose NOT to associate with.

KyK	Posted: August 07, 2007 6:32 PM


Amen! And what's amazing to me is that God's plan was that "through the church, this mystery is made known to the even to the heavenly realms." When Christians are Christ-like they display the image of God to the lost. And when Christians are not, God demonstrates His wonderful grace to even such as those.

Sheila

Posted: August 01, 2007 8:41 AM


I agree that we are all sinners, hyper-critical and need to learn our lessons. The most important thing is obedience to G-d in all things. When he tells us to do something, we must do it.

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