I LOVE my Church

Today our church had a health checkup. All who were willing filled out an extensive questionnaire - over 100 questions - about all aspects of the church, some theological questions, and a number of cross reference questions (used to measure how candid the respondent is being). The "test"was administered by an independent person from out of town who also interviewed a cross section of the membership.

I was one of those interviewed and found the questions consistent with the goal of measuring how healthy our church is. I also found some of the questions very thought provoking...

For example, one question was "Who is the most influential person in the church?"

A no brainer. Jesus Christ, of course!

But that wasn't where the examiner was aiming... He liked my response (I could tell from his broad grin) but he prompted me to think in more mortal terms. I pondered for a moment and admitted I could not name one person, adding I didn't feel I ought to be able to name one, either.

Of course, the pastor of any church should, by both definition and calling, be a very influential personality in the local body, but it has been my experience that when a select few wield most of the influence (often tacit but palpable) church health suffers.

Another question was an open ended one, "How do you feel about your church?"

"I LOVE my church!"

In my typical fashion I spouted out the first thought to hit my brain. Sometimes words come out of my mouth that I am certain have not been anywhere near my brain... gut level reactions. And sometimes I regret what I've thoughlessly said, but this was not one of them. I DO love my church. I love the people, individually and collectively. I love the music, sermons, small groups, classes, the seniors and the youth... I love my church.

Sure, there is room for improvement. True, there are things we could do better and things we should do that we are not doing, etc... and I am certain this church health checkup will reveal some areas of weakness in addition to many areas of strength, but in spite of all, I LOVE my church.