Uncomfortable by McCracken Brett

Author:McCracken, Brett [McCracken, Brett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2017-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Part 2

Uncomfortable Church

8

Uncomfortable People

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

1 Corinthians 12:14

It is impossible to be in Christ and not belong to others. A Christian, by definition, has a connection with and a responsibility to other Christians. You cannot claim Christ and avoid his people.

Sam Allberry

There are some weird people at church. If you’ve spent any amount of time in a church, you know this. Some of the weird church-people types I have had the hardest time with over the years include:

The overaggressive huggers who always bypass side -hugging for the full -on hug

The under-aggressive people who never know whether to hug you or shake your hand

The Baby Boomer who isn’t confident enough to dole out wisdom to Millennials like me

The know -it-all in life group who “mansplains” everything in a condescending manne r

The external processor who takes up precious social energy by working out meandering thoughts aloud, ad nauseam

The church lady who manages to ask horribly offensive and personal questions under the guise of kind -hearted concern

The sweaty -handed people who lay their entire damp palms on your shoulder when they pray for you

The overly expressive lady who injects bursts of interpretive dance into worship, sometimes with flags like a sort of Pentecostal drill team

The person who frequently weeps or lies facedown on the church floor during worship, making you feel like an emotionless faux Christian

The FOMO (“fear of missing out”) church members who say they’ll be at every event but often flake out at the last minute because something better comes up

The far -too-happy person whose perpetual smile surely must mask something sinister

The person who has shaken hands with you twelve times but still can’t remember your name

The guy who thinks every discussion among men must involve meat, beer, cigars, and/or Every Man’s Battle

The “I’m not your typical Christian!” churchgoers who go out of their way to cuss and show you their tattoos

Anyone who talks about the joys of “just doing life together”

The list could go on. And I’m the first to admit that my quirks would probably show up on someone else’s list. The point is, we should not expect our church, or any church, to be free of people who annoy us. And that’s a good thing.

The reality of God’s family is that people have different backgrounds and personalities and opinions. They will clash. It will be messy. It’s a huge challenge committing to a family like this, but it is not optional. Adopted sons and daughters of God can’t just throw in the towel and retreat to our just -like-me friend groups and homogenous cliques. We must lean into the awkward conglomeration of people who comprise the church.

People Problems

Interpersonal conflict has been part of the church since its earliest days. Think of the rivalry between Peter and John, or the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:36–41. There’s a reason Scripture doesn’t hide from these difficulties. The tension of a diverse conglomeration of people coming together in Christ’s name will often be combustible, but it’s also at the heart of the gospel.

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