One thing I have heard countless times–stated from both Christians and non-Christians–is that “I like Jesus, but not the church”, or something along those lines. This view might stem from a bad experience with the church, personal ideas about church structure, or more. And I can understand where this perspective is coming from to a certain extent. However, there are several dissonant ideas that initially come to mind when I hear that. Here are four off the cuff:
1. I like Jesus, but not the church… yet, Jesus calls the church his beloved bride (Jn 3:29, Rev 21:9, Eph 5). If you can like Jesus, but not who he loves most, I can imagine Jesus wouldn’t be too pumped about that.
2. I like Jesus, but not the church… yet, interestingly, Scripture refers to the church as part of Jesus: the church being the body and Christ being the head (Eph 5), the church being the branches and Christ being the Vine (Jn 15). In addition, Jesus refers to the temple (the church) as his body which would be destroyed and in three days later be raised again (Jn 2:19). He was not referring to the temple/church as fundamentally a building or organization of people, but rather, as a mysterious extension of himself, which would be destroyed and in three days later be resurrected. And when he ascended into heaven, he sent his Spirit at Pentecost to indwell in those who believe and who will believe (the church).
3. I like Jesus, but not the church… yet, God has established the church as a direct means through which He will minister to you personally. He has given each member of the church different spiritual gifts for the purpose of ministering to one another and advancing the kingdom (1 Co. 12). Indeed, if each person had all the spiritual gifts, they would be self-sufficient and not dependent on anyone else in the church. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul makes a metaphor relating the church to the human body. He argues that just as a hand is virtually useless when it is cut off from the rest of the body, so also are we spiritually when we are cut off from the church. It is in the church (the context of the body…to follow the biblical metaphor), that the ‘hand’ is optimally nourished, connected, and useful. Therefore, cutting yourself off from the church is fundamentally cutting yourself off from the ways God is trying to minister to you in all aspects of life. The church is God’s tangible, physical expression of his grace, provision, and ministry to you personally. And while the church is an imperfect representation of that, and will fail and make mistakes, give the church grace. If the church was perfect, Jesus would not have had to die to save them. So don’t die to them by one experience. They need your grace as much as you need their community.
4. I like Jesus, but not the church… yet, you only come to know Jesus more accurately and wholly through the context of community. Tim Keller excellently describes this idea in his NY Times best-selling book, Prodigal God. Pulling from CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, he articulates this phenomenon much better than I ever could, so I’ll let you read from a pedigree of collective genius. Check it out:
“C. S. Lewis was part of a famous circle of friends called the Inklings, which included J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, and also the author Charles Williams, who died unexpectedly after World War II. In his book The Four Loves, Lewis wrote a striking meditation on his death in an essay entitled Friendship.
In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles [Williams] is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s [Tolkien’s] reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald . . . In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another (Isaiah 6:3). The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have.15
Lewis is saying that it took a community to know an individual. How much more would this be true of Jesus Christ? Christians commonly say they want a relationship with Jesus, that they want to “get to know Jesus better.” You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the church, in Christian community, with strong relationships of love and accountability. Only if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness” (140-142).
Overall, regardless of whatever unfortunate experiences or personal ideologies you might hold on to, I encourage you to think through the idea of liking Jesus but at the same time turning away from the church. If anything, through Scripture, it seems that truly liking Jesus directly corresponds to and even involves liking the church.
