Jesus, help me love your followers

I'm just having one of those days.
This Wiii Church series really has me thinking about the nature of the church.
What we could be.
What we should be.
What we will be.
And, what we are.

Something you should know that I can say almost generically for all church planters (at least those of us who start a new church for the right reasons, and I've meet some who start churches for all the wrong reasons, but that's another blog)...

We have a love/hate relationship with the church.
It should be obvious that I am a part of and in love with the church, as we are the body of Christ, the hope of the world. But there are certainly "expressions" of the church, or people in the church, that drive me nuts.

When I see those expressions appear at Connections, I really gets under my skin.

• The person who meddles in other people business
• The one who gossips and pretends it showing "concern"
• Anybody who feels they've "earned the right..."
• People who miss the whole point and start nit-picking when we start to actually fulfill our mission!

We are beginning to see the promises of Jesus coming true at Connections. We are seeing people far from God come close to God as we share the good news of Jesus. We are seeing broken and hurting people starting to understand and apply God's plan for their lives. We are starting to see people who never went to church worshiping more faithfully, and more expressively, than people who are "mature in faith."

But really the mature in faith are often those who are just used to the faith,
and used to things happening a certain way,
and used to things going their way.
And as these people begin to brush up against new believers and those still exploring belief, they just don't know how to deal with them.
So they say and do things they shouldn't.

But I have to love them just as much as those far from God.
In fact, that's really how those far from God will begin to see and understand the love of God working itself out.

But I need strength.
I need Jesus to help me love some of his followers.
Because they are driving me crazy.
And threaten His mission when they stir up trouble.
And they must be called out at times.
That's what we do in the body of Christ.