The Church Is a Harlot, But I Love Her

Looking past the imperfections of the church and her leaders.

Husbands, imagine this: A friend comes to your house for dinner. You enjoy a delicious meal that your wife has made, and catch up on life. Halfway through the meal, your friend does something unbelievable. He starts listing things that your wife could have done better.

"The chicken is too tough," he says. "You should have marinated it longer. And the broccoli is overcooked, mushy and bland. My 12-year-old daughter could cook a better meal." But it only gets worse. He starts to criticize her character, even ridicule her. "She's not the woman you thought she was, is she?"

I'm guessing his visit would be cut short. And you'd probably send him away with a few choice words. Even if he was right about certain things, you simply wouldn't tolerate someone openly and caustically criticizing your wife. You love her, and because you do, you look past her quirks and shortcomings.

But we tolerate this mean-spirited criticism all the time when it's directed at the church. If we're not careful, it's easy for us to look at the church and her leaders, and say, "The church should have done ____." Or, "I wish they hadn't ____." Or, "She's not what we hoped for."

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