Church isn't ever going to be easy.

First things first, my church family is amazing. Actually, I'm even going to be a little Pentecostal and say it’s glorious. What I mean by that is it's the first time in my Christian walk I’m seeing God show his Glory by allowing me to see others the way he see's them. It's not perfect, but it is the body of Christ expressing itself through people who are committed to loving, serving, worshiping and ministering with other people. With everything that is in me, I desperately want this to be how every Christian feels about the church family God has given them.

With that said, I still don’t like church. I am an introvert, and like any good introvert I avoid people. Naturally, I don’t try to. I just need space, and a lot of it. So church, a place where you can’t really avoid people, is difficult for me to genuinely enjoy. I don't like admitting that but I was faced with it  when I woke up last Sunday morning and didn’t want to go. I had no reason not to want to go, I love my church, I love the people in it, I love hearing how God speaks to my pastor, but I still didn’t want to go. So as I sat there pondering why that is and asking God why church has to be so hard I suddenly realized that there are obvious reasons why church is hard.

Church is hard because it’s made up of people.

Church is hard because like family, you can’t really pick the church. You can pick which particular building you go to- sure, but the body as a whole? No.

Church is hard because people are messy. Family is messy.

Church is hard because it forces us to be close to others, even when it's uncomfortable.

Church is hard not because God made a mistake in choosing us, but because we make mistakes.

Church is hard because we are the church, and in case you haven't noticed, we’re pretty screwed up.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the majority of letters in the New Testament are written to churches who are dealing with hard issues.  It’s written to people and churches who are screwed up. In Paul’s letter to Corinth he is not congratulating them on how well they are doing and how awesome they are, instead he’s writing to them saying “Hey, you know that guy who’s sleeping with his Dad’s wife? Uh, get rid of him” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)

Church, comprised of people, is God’s plan A, and He's made it clear that there is no plan B.

God chooses to display himself through the broken, lowly, messy people that make up the church, and not only that but He knows we are broken, lowly and messy and still chooses to call us His bride. How foolish for me to question and even fight against how God chooses to display his glory.

So while being in a crowd of people may never be easy for me I can at least say this, when I bite the bullet and go to church even when it’s hard  I know that I'm not having to do it because God isn’t caring about what I care about, I'm doing it because I’m caring about what He cares about. And as long as I remember that, I can be comfortable anywhere.

(photo from flickr.com)