Can you love Jesus and hate the Church?

There seems to be a growing trend of “Jesus loving, Church haters”. Those who are more interested in their own ‘individual personal growth with the Lord’ and wanting nothing to do with the church, the corporate body of Christ. Looking at the scandals, sexual abuse, money and power-hungry ministers, political, judgmental and hypocritical behavior of some in the church today; it is no wonder that the ‘Church’ itself has become to some a stumbling block to Christianity. Some have become offended, frustrated, disgusted and therefore decide that they want out of it. It has become all about the particular individual and his/her own experiences, opinions and judgments about the church rather than what God thinks and feels about her (the church).

Here’s the thing. Jesus loves the church and it is through the church that God’s redemptive story would continue. Ephesians 5:25 shows us how Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her just as how husbands are to love their wives. Ephesians 3:8-11 tells us that ‘through the church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places’ and that this was according to the eternal purpose of God realized in Christ Jesus. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you are automatically born and grafted into the church. There is no choice between Jesus and His Church. Christ is the one who has ‘built this church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Mat 16:18).

It is helpful to note that the church is not a building, not a weekly meeting and not the kingdom of God itself. The original Hebrew word ‘qahal or edhah’ meant a gathering, community or congregation of Israel. The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ means ‘called out ones’ while ‘kuriakon’ means ‘belonging to the Lord’. It is clear then that the church is a community of believers made up with people from every tribe and tongue. This means that there will be flesh and blood people in a physical location; and it’s this flesh and blood that most people have a problem with! Yet it is this local church that we get to practice being disciples, and what it really means for us to carry out Jesus’ new command: for us to love each other.

Japheth Chew