The Comforts of the Church
by Christopher Hendrix
A newspaper once asked G.K. Chesterton to answer the question of what is wrong with the world. Chesterton replied, “Dear Sir, I am, sincerely G.K. Chesterton.” We can apply this to the question of what is wrong with the church, and we ought to respond, “I am.” If you think you’ve found the perfect church, then don’t join it. Why? Because you’ll ruin it! I think we would grumble and complain less about the church and one another when we first look at ourselves and recognize that we also bring issues into it. Just remember, even though you have to put up with a few difficult people in the church, God has to put up with them, plus you (plus everyone else!).
You can watch the full sermon on 2 Cor 7:5-9 here to accompany this blog post.
When we give ourselves a dose of humility, we see each other less like problems and more like fellow brothers and sisters. How do I know? Besides personal experience, Paul has demonstrated this to us. In 2 Corinthians 7:5–9, Paul found comfort in a group of people that brought him much pain. The church at Corinth consumed much of his time, caused him to lose focus on present ministry opportunities, and even allowed false teachers to bash him among the congregation. They gave him grief and grief he had, but he also found comfort from them.
The comfort came through their expression to Titus of their affection for Paul and their repentance over the sins Paul had written to them about in his third letter. Their longing and love for Paul encouraged him, and their grief that led to repentance strengthened him. Paul didn’t respond to them, “Finally, you came to the light!” or “It’s about time!” or even with the expectation that they owed him for putting him through what they did. They repented of their sin, and that was enough for Paul. That brought him comfort.
Do you struggle to find comfort among God’s people? The problem may not be others; the problem might be you. If you feel disconnected or unplugged, do you expect others to come seek after you, or do you put forth an effort to connect? While we ought to seek after one another, we are also called to engage with each other. Paul didn’t wait for the Corinthians to reach out to him. He took the initiative because of his desire and love for them. Which brings us to the root of the issue. If you’re struggling to find comfort and joy with God’s people, it stems from a lack of love towards others and, ultimately, a lack of love towards God.
Relational issues reflect your love towards God. If you think you’ve done good at commandments 1–4 in the Ten Commandments, but fail in commandments 5–10, then you’ve actually demonstrated that there are problems with your life being lived within commandments 1–4. Your horizontal relationships show those around you what your vertical relationship is like. You can’t hate God’s people but love God (1 John 4:7–21). Finding comfort and joy with others in the church starts with a love of God.
So, practically speaking, first and foremost, repent. Repent for the lack of love horizontally and vertically. Confess and turn from your joylessness, anger, bitterness, and even hatred of other Christians. Repent for your hypocrisy of claiming to love God while hating one another. Second, consider the Gospel of Christ and why He died for you. Think upon the work of justification and how nothing in you could make you righteous before God. It took Christ to do that. You and I are nothing but evil beings before a righteous God. Yet, Christ puts us in a righteous standing before the Holy God. This brings much humility. Third, go, serve, and spend time with one another. Serving and spending time with the body of Christ strengthens the humility muscle. Giving and sacrificing your time, talents, and treasures pushes you to greater dependability on Christ and love for His bride. Finally, you’ll find through your serving, conversations, confessions, laughing, feasting, and partying with one another that the Spirit brings joy and comfort. You can honestly look at one another, see their sins and blemishes, and take comfort in their lives' holiness.