We need the Church

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty proud to be apart of the body of Christ a.k.a. THE CHURCH.  There have been a couple videos going around like rapid fire on facebook about not needing the Church because it's so corrupt.  About loving Jesus but hating the church.  At first I avoided watching those videos because I thought they were going to be a waste of time.  But one day I decided to watch one.  I will admit, the guy in the video was very compelling and had a creative way of telling us what he thought.  But the message did not stir my heart strings.  As I thought about it, I was a little offended and upset at what he ultimately had to say. 

In the Bible, Jesus commands us to be a part of the body.  We need fellowship with a local church.  It's healthy for our relationship and growth with Christ.  Now, granted there are some pretty corrupt churches out there, but just because some of them are does not mean ALL of them are.  We are human, we sin, we will mess up, but that's the beauty of God's grace.  He redeems us and uses our mistakes to make good (if we so choose to let Him).  The Bible talks about Jesus' Bridegroom, how He will come back for His church.  In the New Testament, he had Peter start the church... so if He did that, why would we have the audacity to say that the church is a bad thing?

Hmmmm....

Another thing that is popular is "Jesus is my religion" or "I love Jesus, but hate religion".  Well, newsflash... loving Jesus automatically puts you in a religion.  Religion is not a bad thing.  We are called to be Christ-followers (CHRISTIANS).  When we let the fundamentals and nitty-gritty stuff about religion get the best of us and control us, well that's when we start having problems.  Jesus needs to be the center of our lives and the focus of our day.  Our love for Him should overthrow any complications we have within the church, but unfortunately because of our sinful nature, we still have problems with that. 

Watch this video and see what you think.  Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus: Spoken Word. 

Again, he was very creative and compelling in his speech, but ultimately I do not agree with him.  We need the church.  We need to be surrounded by believers to help build us up and encourage us in our walk with Christ.  We can't be alone in our growth because how do we know how much to grow?  We need others to help us and we will get that in the church.  No, it's not perfect.  But it is what God gave us to sustain us until His return.