Why Christians Must Love the Church

I love the church. I love being the pastor of a church. I love visiting other churches when I have the rare opportunity to do so.

However, let’s admit something: the church is a very imperfect group.

That’s because the church is composed of people. Not just any kind of people, but sinners. Indeed, the primary prerequisite for being part of the church is to acknowledge you are a sinner who needs the grace of God. People who think they’re good enough to reach heaven on their own merits generally don’t qualify for church membership. Only those who know they have no hope of salvation apart from the atoning sacrifice of Christ are suitable for the church.

That is one of the reasons I love the church. On Sundays, when I look out at the congregation God has given me, I see people just like me: sinners learning to live the truth of the Gospel in the context of their sin-tainted lives and this broken world.

To be sure, Christians have been given by God’s grace the miraculous privilege of right standing before God, this is not a standing that is achieved by any works of merit we have done. It is not by their good deeds or religious acts that Christians attain relationship with God.

It is by grace. God’s grace. Only by God’s grace.

Any church worthy of the name is a living declaration to the world that God is merciful, that He pours out His grace to forgive sinners with scandalous abandon. And that’s why I love the church. It is a local gathering of people committed to Christ and to each other, with a mutual desire to become more like Christ as we live out the position we have been given in Christ.

And, of course, that is the heart’s desire of every Christian: to become more and more like our Savior.

And that brings me to the most compelling reason why Christians must love the church.

Let me explain. If you want to become like Jesus, that means you will aspire to think His thoughts, pursue His commands, and love what He loves.

And Jesus loves the church; so much so, in fact that He calls the church His bride. Think of that term for a moment. How does the groom feel about his bride? Does his heart not burst with love for her? Of course it does. Does the fact that she is imperfect dim his passion or reduce his ardor for her? Not at all.

That same kind of passionately committed love is what Jesus has eternally for His bride. God’s Word says that one reason He gave us marriage is so that we could see in it a picture of the love of Jesus for His church (Ephesians 5:25, 32).

Oh, how Jesus loves His church! He is committed to His church!

If you love Jesus, you will learn to love His bride.

If you want to be like Jesus, you will love the church like He does.

Do you?