Why Is Church Life So Difficult Sometimes?

Why is church such a hard place to be sometimes?  Why is it so doggone difficult to get along with the people in church?

The people who populate a church on any given Sunday morning (or whenever) are not a typical group of people.  Think about it.  The people that comprise our congregations wouldn't normally be found together outside of church.

As we live out our daily lives, we naturally gravitate towards people who "fit in" with us, or vice versa.  Typically when we gather with folks outside of church, it's because we find ourselves cheering for the same sports team or enjoying the same activities.  You know, the people we jog with, dine with, and go to the movies with.

These relationships happen naturally.

May I suggest that a church body isn't a natural body?  It's supernatural.

Truly, the Church is a ragtag bunch if ever there was one.  And that's a giant testimony to the grace of God.  God sovereignly saves people from all different corners of culture.

Melancholies, cholerics, sports nuts, couch potatoes, fitness fanatics, stock brokers and grease monkeys, who might be down on their luck, high on the hog, crazy as crackers or smart as a whip - all of them inhabit the assembly of the saved.

We are truly a ragtag bunch.  No wonder there is such a strong Scriptural call for unity. Other groups can fall apart if they want to. We must stay together at all costs.  

If somebody abandons State U. to cheer for U. of State, big deal.  If your buddy gives up P90X for pork rinds, it's not the end of the world.  These natural clusters of interest we gravitate to and orbit around are fluid, not static.  People can move in and out because there's not much at stake, really.

But the people within the Church (notice the big "c") must hang together.  We must demonstrate the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  And that's one of the hardest things to do.  It's also one particularly magnificent way that God is glorified and the Gospel is proved to be real.