Brothers and sisters, let me start with this confession: I love the church.
I’ve loved the little church in Exeter, California, because those people were my people.
I love the church I attend now, even though my work keeps me from always being there. Why? Because the people have welcomed me, and grace has allowed me to fit in.
But let’s be honest: the church has a PR problem.
Paul lays it out in Galatians 5:19–21 — the works of the flesh are obvious. The world knows what sin looks like. But here’s the catch: the world also knows when the church looks more like sin than like Christ.
We say, “hate the sin but love the sinner.” Yet how often do we actually live that out?
How often do our “prayer requests” turn into holy-sounding gossip?
How often do we say, “I’ll pray for you” … but never do?
I know, because I’ve been guilty of both. And when I look back, it makes me sick to my stomach.
So now I do something different. I don’t wait. I don’t collect details. I pray right there, right then. Because prayer is not a line item on a to-do list — it’s the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of heaven.
But here’s the problem: outside our walls, many see the church as a judgmental club.
They see us ranking ourselves like we’re on some spiritual leaderboard: “Well, at least I haven’t done that sin.”
Friends, that’s hogwash. Romans 6:23 makes it clear: all have sinned. Every single one of us. Even the ones who look polished and holy on Sunday morning.
The church isn’t a cruise ship for the comfortable. It’s a battleship. Everyone has a role. Some are healing in the infirmary. Some are manning the deck. Some are loading the cannons of prayer. But everyone has a place, and none of us are better than the other.
It’s time to fix the church’s PR problem. And that starts not with “them” but with you and me.
The Messiah we follow — He spoke more about love than anything else. Yet if I’m honest, some of my loneliest moments were inside a church building. That ought not to be so.
So here’s the charge: Don’t let the children of God keep you from the God of the children.
If you don’t see your need for a Savior, you’ll never see the need to be saved. But when you do — when your heart realizes it’s not about rankings, but about redemption — then the message of the Gospel will change everything.
Let’s be kind. Let’s be prayerful. Let’s be love in action. And let’s show the world a church that doesn’t just talk about Jesus, but looks like Him.
TMDPB - The Modern Day Parables Blog 