Sticking up for the Church

I heard someone make a passing reference this week to the need for the Church to call itself into question and repent. It sounds very natural; we're used to this way of talking, and it comes across as wise and humble. We don't pretend to be perfect - we too are sinners and we admit that we have deeply hurt others through our behavior.

And it’s true. That is to say, it's true that Christians remain (for the time being) sinners who need to repent every day. Still, it bothers me a little bit how easily this kind of talk gets tossed around. Whatever happened to the glory and beauty of the Bride of Christ? Are we really following the apostles pattern in how we talk about the assembly of the redeemed?

so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Eph 3:10

if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 1 Ti 3:15

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Eph 5:25-27

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Rv 19.7-8

Of course, the biblical authors also speak of the churches' faults (e.g. 1 Cor., Rev. 2-3), but my impression is that they see the Church first and foremost as a glorious reality, a people transformed by God's grace, the body of Christ, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. It is in the Church that God demonstrates his wisdom, power, grace and love to the world. She is not yet without spot or wrinkle, but these faults are not part of her essential nature. We ought to remember that the Church is somebody else’s bride, and it would be appropriate for us to be afraid to find it too easy to talk bad about her. I definitely have to own my own sins, and it's important for us to be aware of the failures of our local community, but when we talk about “the Church” with a capital C, I'd like to suggest that this is a reality that needs to be respected out of fear for the God who sanctifies her through the blood of his own Son.

It’s a reflection in progress - your feedback would be very welcome...