By Spencer Clark
I often hear the phrase, “the church is great except for the people.” While I understand the sentiment that humans are imperfect and full of struggles, there are a few problems with this statement. First, it speaks from a place of superiority, looking down on “other people” who are the problem and not the speaker. And second, it dismisses the (second only to God) most important part of what the church is about: people. Statements like this seem to prioritize the institution of the church rather than the people who make up the body of Christ.
Attitudes like this were rampant among the Pharisees in Jesus’s time. These people refused to associate with “sinners” and the unclean who filled their streets. Those with illnesses and disabilities had no place among the “clean” elite, yet they had a place at Jesus’s table (Matt. 9:10-11). Rather than seeing people as problems to be solved, we should see them as God sees them: people made in the image of God, struggling with the brokenness of sin. Where there is sin, there will be problems. Where there is sin, the gospel is needed.
People are at the heart of the church, but they are also the weakest link in the church. While people both frustrate us and upset us, we are called to love one another in harmony and unity (John 13:34). If we are unable to see the goodness in working with all people (including those who are different or have disabilities), we will never be a welcoming church, nor will we ever be successful in evangelism. Too often, we silently ignore, exclude, or avoid people whom we dislike or who are “not like us.” Perhaps they are high maintenance and take a lot of time and energy, but I’m sure the tax collectors and sinners did too.
The question we must be asking ourselves is whether we are deciding who should be included among us by our own standards or are we looking to Jesus as the example for who should be among us? Perhaps it is not people who are the problem, but the problem lies within our heart and our openness towards others.