She said she didn't love the church anymore…or at least the only church she really ever knew. I sat in my office as the newly elected pastor, listening intently to this emotionally checked-out parishioner. As tears coursed down her face, smearing mascara in the corner of her eyes, she shared with me heartbreak the many years of unresolved issues and hurts caused her. She was transparent and yet guarded at the same time. I couldn't disagree with her reasons nor deny that they were justifiable. But at that moment and immediately after visiting with her, I made it my mission to see that those I pastored loved their church with a passion. Granted, I had some dramatic ups and downs…As ministers of the gospel, this work we are called to is bigger than really anything we can imagine. My dad has told me many times that the call of God is the highest calling. And, I can’t find anywhere in Scripture that the calling of God is separate from His passion for the local church. John Stott, in his book The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor, wrote these profound words: “The church lies at the center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is God’s new community. For his purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be perfected in a future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build his church, that is, to call out of the world a people for his own glory.” I propose that we need to fall in love with the local church all over again... More on this later.
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