The Church Isn’t Perfect; Love It Anyway

[The Church Isn’t Perfect; Love It Anyway]( Current Teaching Series [The Awesome Power of Vision]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [The Church Isn’t Perfect; Love It Anyway]( By Rick Warren — 02/16/2022 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love." Ephesians 4:2 (NLT) Unity in any area of your life—in your small group, church, or family—requires you to be realistic in your expectations. Many people bring unrealistic expectations to church. To expect any church to always do everything right and to minister perfectly to everyone all the time is just fantasy. A church can be healthy, but it will never be perfect. A group of imperfect people will never be able to create a perfect community. Psalm 119:96 says, “Nothing is perfect except your words” (TLB). Everything on this planet is broken—the weather, the economy, our bodies, our relationships, our minds. Nothing here works perfectly except God’s Word. To expect perfection in your church is to set yourself up for massive disappointment. When people read books about the ideal church, they become cynical. Why? Because they’re hoping for something that doesn’t exist. When you discover what God intends real fellowship to be, it’s easy to get discouraged by the gap between the ideal and reality. Jesus passionately loves his church, even with all its faults and failures—and he wants you to do the same. If you’re going to be Christlike, you must love the church in spite of its imperfections. Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is evidence of spiritual immaturity. On the other hand, settling for the real without striving for the ideal is complacency. Maturity is living with the tension of what you know the ideal could be and what reality is. In parenting, you don’t wait for your kids to grow up before you start loving them; you love them at every stage of their maturity. In the same way, you need to learn to love people at every stage of their growth, and you need to learn to love the church as a whole in every stage of its growth. Other believers will disappoint you, but that’s no reason to stop loving and fellowshipping with them. You’re going to live with them for eternity—so you should be practicing now how to love them more like Jesus. “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Ephesians 4:2 NLT). [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - When you are tempted to criticize your church, what should you do instead? - Why is it important to have people mentoring and being mentored in the church? - How can you get a realistic view of what church is supposed to be and what your role in it should be? The post [The Church Isn’t Perfect; Love It Anyway]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. 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[LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: Seeing Your Future with Faith, Not Fear Message 2: When You Need a Fresh Start Message 3: Christ’s Vision: A Unified Family Message 4: My Part in Fulfilling Christ’s Vision Message 5: Maintaining Harmony In My Home, Small Group, and Church Message 6: What Seeds Will You Plant This Spring? [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, and sign up for his free daily devotionals at [PastorRick.com](. © 2022 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, United States