Episode 6 - The Big Mistake People Make about the Church
We overweight the bad news and we underweight the good news. We may be a lot better than we think! Love is the litmus test of an authentic relationship with God.

1st Question: Does this mean that it doesn’t matter what you believe or how you live as long as you are a loving person? No. John assumes that his readers are believers already.

2nd Question: How do you explain: the world is filled with loving people who have no connection to God through Jesus Christ? Yes, but all of us were created “in his image.” Every human being still carries some vestige of that original image. The attributes of God are residual in all of us.

3rd Question: How do you explain: there are professing Christians who are not loving people? Many are Christians in name only. They are posing as Christians so they are imposters who give the church a bad reputation. Many who are true Christians start out with serious character deficits. Various factors mean some people are not naturally loving. Everyone has a different starting point. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Miss Bates example. So, the question is, “Am I a better person than I would have been had I never met Christ?” All true Christians are still imperfect. “Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” We are not finished products. The church was never meant to be a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners.

4th Question: What does the report card of the church really look like? The big problem with the conclusions that are drawn from the often dismal public record of churches is that we don’t have the big picture. Will Durant: “Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people…doing the things historians…record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children…The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians…ignore the banks for the river.” To reject the church because of the history books and headlines is to ignore the banks for the river. There are countless acts of kindness which never make the headlines or history books. But I suspect…the cumulative value of such deeds completely dwarfs the darker side of more public church life. The banks, tell a different story than the river. Our big mistake about the church is that we overweight the bad news and underweight the good. Three examples: The Stephen Ministry…University of Pennsylvania study on the economic impact of churches…the impact of the Great Awakening. “there is almost no humanitarian institution in our society which doesn’t not have its roots in this movement and the message of Jesus.”

5th Question: What does MY report card look like? Is my own life a part of the good news? Love is the litmus test. Are we better today than yesterday?

Ten questions:
1. I regularly look for opportunities to serve others.
2. I am a generous and cheerful giver of my money, time and other resources.
3. I am patient with others when interrupted or inconvenienced.
4. I do not “keep score” when it comes to personal offenses, but I readily forgive others.
5. I do not insist on my own way but defer to others whenever possible.
6. I am a patient listener - I give other people the opportunity to talk.
7. I use my words to encourage rather than to criticize.
8. I honor all people regardless of different backgrounds, opinions or ethnicities.
9. I do not gossip or find entertainment value in the failings of others.
10. I genuinely rejoice when I hear about the success of others.

God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. We are each more than what we have become.