A Church for Those Who Love the Church

Daily Reading: Proverbs 18

Scripture Focus:  Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18.1)

Devotional Thought:  I have often come across the sentiment, seen on church signs and heard in mission statements of avant-garde groups, "We are a church for people who don't like church."  What?  That seems contradictory at best and self-destructive at worst.  Are we to assume what they really mean is, "We are a church for people who don't like any other church but ours"?  That seems humble, doesn't it?

I once was in a discussion where one of the participants said that she believed the church was a man-made institution that more often than not got in the way of her spirituality.  She believed that people were all good deep down inside, and that God was always inside her heart, she just had to find him.  And she could do that on her own, thank you very much.

But is this what the Bible says?  Is this the way Jesus feels about the church?  Didn't he say he would build the church?  Didn't he die to make the church holy?  Isn't the church described as glorious, without spot or wrinkle?

Is the church perfect?  Of course not!  There are people in it!  I once heard a pastor say, "If you find a perfect church, don't go there!  You'll ruin it!"

The wolf gets his prey by separating the sheep from the safety of the flock.  Satan is the master deceiver; he is the father of lies and he knows our most vulnerable places.  The only way to protect our hearts from this tragedy of believing a twisted version of the truth (also known as a lie) is to immerse ourselves in the Word, seeking earnestly the truth through prayer, and by being an active, worshipping part of the body of Christ through his church.

Jenny and Pastor Scott

Prayer: Lord, you have said that you will build your church and the gates of hell will not stand against it.  Help me, O Lord, to immerse myself in the safety and love of your church.  Though it is not perfect, it is being perfected.  Though it is not heaven, it will help me to arrive there.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 10.12-15

12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.

13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"?

14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.