Why church is not perfect and why that should matter to you.

Hypocrites go to church

The truth is that the church is far from perfect. One of the most common reasons for not being interested in church is just that - It's full of hypocrites, who say one thing and then do another  - and you know what, it's spot on.

Full of flawed people

Church is not full of perfect flawless people, it's full of imperfect flawed people. 

The point is that church isn't about how perfect the people who are in it are, it's about how imperfect we are. At the heart of church is this very simple concept - we are all imperfect. Church is not an exhibition of the perfect, it's a community of the openly flawed, working together to try and deal with that imperfection.

The hypocrite label rightly sticks

Don't bother going to church if you are perfect and flawless, church is for people, real people with all our strengths and weaknesses. It's a place for working through our imperfection to learn how to deal with it. To put it in church language, church is for sinners and that includes us hypocrites. So don't expect perfection from church, the perfect church simply does not exist, but church can be a doorway to meeting and walking with someone who is perfect, someone who even his enemies failed to find guilty of any crime or sin - Jesus.

Jesus is who we can expect perfection from, the church is just a gathering of people who know that and who are committed to following Him. Sometimes we fail and the hypocrite label quite rightly sticks, but on other days we do better and reflect a little bit of His glory.

If you are not good enough to go, you are!

Bottom line, if you are not good enough to go to church, church is the perfect place for you ....and imperfect me. Why not visit and see for yourself?

Great article on prayer from "explore God"

How Do I Pray

http://www.exploregod.com/how-do-i-pray

Prayer, enjoy it.

For some people seems hard, they can't find the right words, they feel foolish like it's talking to the ceiling, they are too sinful and grubby to talk to God.

The crazy thing is it could not be simpler;

There is no quicker way to stop feeling sinful and unclean than to tell God about it. He already knows, He is listening for you to admit it to yourself and before Him, it's the first step in dealing with sin. Asking Him to help you stay clean is the next and the final step is walking with a Him daily to try and avoid messing up again.

As for feeling foolish, who will feel foolish in the end whaen He asks I was right there with you why didn't you talk to me about it? Oh yes I knew, but you acknowledging me and talking to me is an important step of faith. Didn't I promise to be with you? Have ever lied? Why then trust your own unreliable imagination and wonky thinking over my promise?

As for finding the right words, we are told when we run out of words and can only and groan, the Holy Spirit translates our groans. Who decides the wrong words? It's a barrier only in your wonky thinking (all us us suffer from wonky thinking at times). Just speak it out, if you can't say it you can pray silently. God is able to understand. If you can speak it out then those with you can hear and agree which adds something to the whole process. (If they can't understand don't fret, bottom line it's between you and Jesus, He does understand.

So let's keep it simple, yes there are lots of nuances and subtleties and deep theological things going on, but you don't need to start there, you don't need to know how your digestive system works to enjoy food....you just know it does you good. Prayer is the same, enjoy it, let it do you good.

3 Common Misconceptions About Theology

1) All theology is bad!

Some Christians are somewhat anti theology, which might seem odd at first, but is understandable when you are perhaps an evangelical Christian reading what has been written by Liberal theologians. Therein lies the clue, actually Christians should not be against theology, the issue is some theologians and the practice they follow. To know God starts with a right response to the basics of the gospel.

Theology is at it's heart the knowledge of God, or about God, which is right at the heart of the gospels and all the rest of scripture supports this. Knowing about God and getting to know God is indisputably a good thing which all Christian believers can agree on. Therefore at its heart theology is good.

2) All theology is hard to comprehend.

As with all misconceptions there is a kernel of truth here, but the issue is humans trying to understand God (who is way above our intellectual pay grade) and then to explain what they have learned to other people. However at its most basis day to day level theology is not complex, Christians have the Bible and above all Holy Spirit to help us understand what we need to know and do. Too many people are scared of looking deeper into their faith, saying I'm not clever enough to understand, completely discounting the fact that they have the supreme intellect at work within them...we often focus too much on our IQ and don't listen enought to 'The Helper'. 

Theology can be intellectually challenging the deeper you get. God wants us to learn to ride a bike, he does not want us to compare ourselves to the unicyclist juggling whilst on a tightrope, He wants us to learn to cycle for use in day to day life first and foremost. Getting to know God is a day to day life skill, not just an ethereal academic pastime.

3) Theology will weaken you faith.

Bad theology might, but actually living the Christian life without getting to understand God as revealed by scripture is a pretty good way of undermining faith too, as it inevitably leads to problems which quickly erodes or worse builds faith on errors, with inevitable problems arising as a result.

Theology will challenge what you believe, it will winnow your ideas, and some chaff will have to go. But pursued properly studying God and scriptures will see the pruning of your ideas lead to newer stronger growth. In the short term your faith might feel a little wobbly as the dross is removed, but what will remain will be purer and eternally enduring.

The key to all of this is spending time with God regularly, studying His word and listening to His Spirit. Ask Father to show you how to study, which authors to read, seek council on where to study if you are going to pursue it at that level.

We have nothing to fear from theology done properly and a great deal to gain from doing it well.

Let us learn to embrace theology at its heart as we press on to learning more about our wonderful God.