Hola readers!

When you think of church what do you think of? A building with a steeple? Singing hymns or maybe Chris Tomlin? Maybe you think of girls dressing up for Easter or Christmas plays a Christmas, youth group, or VBS (many of my childhood memories circle back around to those summer evenings).
Whatever you think of when you think of church, I want to take this to a whole new level. Do you think of broken people crying out to God? People with messy lives? People who've doubt God or still sometimes do? Once drug addicts? People who dated for all the wrong reasons? People who even after years of giving their lives to Christ still find themselves at times very broken?

That's just it. Church isn't the building. It isn't the music. It isn't kissing dating goodbye. It isn't youth group. It isn't the way people dress up really nice. It isn't if you worship on Sunday or Saturday. It isn't if you have a tattoo and dyed hair or not. It isn't if they have good children's programs or not.

You're the Church.

We're the Church.

Jesus Christ is the Church.

 ...you are that temple. | 1 Corinthians 3:17 | 

When we say "we're going to church" we shouldn't have in mind that everything must be to our liking, that the music is our style, that the preacher preaches exactly like you want him to or that you have a ton of friends. Those things are really nice and I'm not saying find somewhere with completely different beliefs then your's, but I am saying it's time to rip the mask off the church.

It's long past due.

The Church is Christians as a whole. When we gather together on Sunday or Saturday it's a bunch of broken, beaten, worshiping, believers who've admitted they aren't good enough but are giving their lives to Jesus, to His unfailing forgiveness. We're willing to go anywhere, to be who He wants us to be for the sake of Jesus Christ.

The Church is a mass of beautiful brokenness.

We walk into a church building and we don't see usually the brokenness. Who get's up and admits their marriage is failing? Who admits that they're sleeping with their boyfriend? Who admits they have a problem with cursing? Who do you look at and they walk up to you and say, "my name is such and such and guess what? I struggle with fear. Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning."
But I want you to see the church as you. Jesus called us as the church and not the building. When we wrongly say the church is such and such or this and that or has to be a certain way when it comes to the building, style of music or that all the guys have to have their hair cut short, we're being the religious leaders from Bible times, giving rules that Jesus never did.
Let me say it again, we're all broken. I couldn't dive into this deep enough. And because we tend to pretend everything is OK, like everything is going good when inside we're crumbling, when we fail to ask for prayer, be vulnerable with our Christian friends, we're proclaiming a message to nonbelievers that we're perfect. When we look down on someone walking into "our church" for doing drugs, dressing a certain (inappropriate) way, talking a certain (profane) way, or maybe just going through a really bad situation in her relationship, we're being hypocrites.
We have Jesus living and breathing in us. That'a a huge difference but not a barrier. It's a chance to show her that through Jesus we're beautifully broken.
Because we're all broken. There's no one who isn't. I think we get this idea that as Christians everything needs to be OK. That we shouldn't feel the way we do.
But even as Christians, Satan wants a hold of us and this fight, this war for our hearts. The Church is a beautiful thing. Going to church can be just as beautiful. It's a place to get love and encouragement. We need to crave fellowship with fellow believers. We should crave it. God has designed us for fellowship and the church, but we cheapen it by showing up every Sunday and ignoring our heart's cry for vulnerability.
Don't put a mask on the Church. Don't make it something it's not. It isn't a device to make you a better person, to replace Jesus, or to look beautiful but on the inside be a corrupt, poor imitation of what really matters.

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22

We're broken and there's hope. Jesus Christ.
It's not about the building, activities,  or music. It's about a bunch of broken people all craving the same thing - complete and utter love for their Savior and a huge world, wide revival where the masses feel the same hope and peace in their brokenness that they do.
I'm tired of hearing that the music isn't your style or that they have no children's programs that your kids enjoyed as much as your last church. I'm tired of people complaining about the decorations or the version of the Bible.

Jesus Christ. He's the one we should be seeking. His word is what we should be reading. His life's example is the one we should try to be living.