SUMMER BREAK: The Perfect Church
Pastor Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)
The Fantasy of a Perfect Church
Over the last several weeks, as a church we’ve been talking about—kind of bad theology, and we’re gonna wrap it up today. Next week we’re starting the book of Jonah; I’m gonna look at some principles in the book. And as we wrap up today kind of the idea of bad theology—and maybe it’s not quite as bad theology, but sometimes it is this concept in our minds as we’re chasing after the perfect church, right? After the perfect church. And it seems like that there’s always—the grass always looks greener on the other side, right?
My very first church that I got to be a youth pastor in South Africa, I was helping a friend to plant a church, and we were in a hair salon, right? I had zero budget, no money. I didn’t even make any money. And we’re in this hair salon, and I’ve got some friends that graduated with me, and they’re in some of the bigger churches in town. And so here I am—I have zero money, zero budget, and we’re trying to do our best, doing youth ministry. And these poor guys had to constantly—it’s like, “Okay, Steven, we’ll just take you out for lunch,” right? “We know you can’t afford that.” And I was like, “Okay.” And at least from my perspective, seeing the facilities that they had, the programming that they had, like, that is the perfect church. And then, you know, later on started in a different church in South Africa and a little bigger. Again, zero budget. And the kids just—it was wonderful. And then God started calling us to America, you know, and you get an image of the American church when you’re in South Africa. It looks all perfect, right? Because you only see the mega churches and the big bands and different things, and so you’re like, “Well, if I end up in America, then that’s gonna be the perfect church.” And then you start in this, and we ended up in Fairmont, Minnesota. It wasn’t a mega church, right? Small farming community and beautiful. But it was interesting, at least my first three/four months looking back, longing for South Africa and the youth group. I was like, “Well, I thought it was gonna look way different, and now they have snow and all these other different things.” It was like, “Man, how I long for South Africa.”
And in our mind, even during COVID, there’s always, you know, there was so many different things that was going on in our churches, and there’s always a temptation—and there is a time, you know, we all go through seasons where the Lord might call us out to a different area or for a different church. But there is unfortunately such a culture to hop around to different churches and not to really be planted where God is calling us to be.
Several weeks ago, we had the opportunity to travel to Colorado Springs, and we made it through to—what is that? Rock? Colo… Rock? Castle rock. We were driving through Castle Rock, and there was this beautiful rainbow. And Venessa got so excited about the rainbow, and instead of saying, “Look for the—watch the rainbow,” she said, “There’s the pot of gold.” Right? And we’re all like, “Hey, where’s that pot of gold?” Well, we all know that there’s no pot of gold under the rainbow.
They had all these signs of Bigfoot out in Colorado, like in different areas. It’s like, everyone’s looking for Bigfoot. There is no Bigfoot, right? The Loch Ness monster. You know, you can try and go to Scotland and try and find it. In the same way, at least in our minds, what we think about the perfect church—it doesn’t exist.
It was interesting, there was an article by Tom Rainier. He is a well-known church leader, and he works a lot of times with churches that are in trouble, that’s dealing with conflict, and then he brings leadership to them. And he asked on X (Twitter) for churches, some of the things that they have seen that have created conflict in the church. And so there’s kind of 25 things that he shares. I’m not gonna do all 25, but here’s just some of the things that created conflict:
An argument over the appropriate length of the worship pastor’s beard. I can see that. It might be beard and hair.
A church dispute of whether or not to install restroom stall dividers in the women’s restroom. All right.
A big church argument over the discovery that the church budget was off with 10 cents.
Major conflict when the youth borrowed a Crock-Pot that had not been used for years.
And it’s like, you read through these 25 things, and it’s like, “Are we serious? Is this the stuff that can cause conflict in the church?” Right? But we often dream of the perfect church. We see it as a place without flaws, filled with perfect people and without any conflict or shortcomings. Now, at least in our mind, our definition of the perfect church are dominated by things like: a pastor that preaches appealing and practical sermons (yeah, good luck), worship music that stirs us, presentations that are flawless, programs that address our life needs, and well-kept facilities. Again, good luck. Our properties guys, they just work fifteen minutes and then they eat donuts. So… just kidding. Where’s Dean? All right.
The Early Church Was Not Perfect
It is easy to kind of drool. Sometimes we have this image of the perfect church in the New Testament, the early church. And, you know, a lot of times when we read those things, it’s like, “Man, that was such a great time,” but it’s easy to forget that they had issues as well. And we’re gonna look at 1 Corinthians, but just to give you context, this was a church that Paul—Paul was the church planter. He’s the one that created this church. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would love to have Paul as my pastor. Right? That would have been pretty sweet. And you would think that he knew how to deal with all of these details. This would be the perfect church. And he spent about a year and a half with this church. And so he—now he left, and now he’s getting word that there’s some issues in his church. And so this is 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I’ll read it for us. It says:
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
So this is Paul’s church, and it says that he appeals—some translations say that he begs them—to say, “Hey, let’s get our act together.” Right? And it says, “There is division among you.” Kind of the Greek talks about that it’s ripping them apart. The stuff that they’re saying and the stuff that they’re doing is actually ripping them apart. And so suddenly we don’t have this image of the perfect church. Even with Paul’s church, like, they are dealing with some things, and he’s saying, “Hey, let us be united in mind and in thought.” And again, the Greek here, he is referring to a medical term, and the image that he’s trying to communicate to them is to say it’s almost like a broken arm. It’s like it is not meant to be broken. It is meant to be united. When that thing is broken, it is painful. And so he’s saying, “Hey, what is happening amongst you? You guys are divided. You are tearing each other apart. It is like a broken arm. And this is not good. You guys got to figure this out.”
Even in Acts chapter 15, if you have your Bible with you. Acts chapter 15. I’ll give you one more example. And just reading starting in verse 35.
But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others stood and preached the word of the Lord.
So first of all, it is going well. When you read this whole chapter, you’re hearing about the different miracles and the stories that is happening. They are having a very successful ministry. But then verse 36, it continues. It says:
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it was wise.
So now they’re kind of disagreeing about who they’re gonna take with them on this missions team. Verse 39:
They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.
It was fascinating, when you read through those chapters, the dynamic team that they are, and suddenly there is such a sharp disagreement within them that they’re going in different directions.
Today’s Church is Not Perfect
And we see it in church today. It’s just like, man, there is no such thing as a perfect church. And the reason is because you’re a member of it. And I’m a member. As soon as you start to go to that church, guess what? Now it’s not perfect anymore, because you brought all of your mess and things with it, and I’m right there with you.
I like this. It says, “A perfect church would have no need for grace, forgiveness, or compassion. But in our imperfections, we find opportunities to embody Christ’s love.”
Now, this message really started about two weeks ago for me. I was really discouraged one week, or about two weeks ago—I saw the message from Tony Evans. Maybe you saw that as well, where he kind of—I don’t know that he resigned, but he took some time off from his church. He said that there is some—and you know who Tony Evans, really well-known pastor from Texas. His daughter is Priscilla. Is it Priscilla? What’s her last name? Schreier. Right? And so Tony Evans, a big, big church. Been faithful 48 years, and he had to step down. And kind of the message to the congregation has been like, “Hey, I didn’t do anything illegal,” but he has fallen short on the expectation that—whatever that might be. We don’t know. And in that same week, you maybe saw the news about Robert Morris, Pastor Robert Morris. Another mega, mega church, I also think in Texas. And some things that happened when he was 21 years in ministry and things that kind of came out now, and he resigned. And so I’m just like discouraged because I watch all of these guys. And when we think about over the years on how many people have dropped the ball in church, it is really sad, because it impacts the Kingdom of God.
People Are Not Perfect
And just to really realize again this morning that first of all, there’s no perfect pastor. Can I hear an amen? And there’s no perfect church. As soon as we put our eyes on people, we will be disappointed. Nobody is perfect walking this earth, other than Jesus when he was walking this earth. Right? And so pastors and people will always fail us. And especially when we’re vulnerable, when we open up our hearts, when we start to build relationships, and we trust people, and then people disappoint us. Right? It is hard. It impacts us deeply. But guess what? That is life. Unless you maybe go to church on a Sunday morning, and you just go, “La, la, la,” you’re not talking to anybody, right, and you leave immediately after that, then maybe you will not be impacted. But as soon as we start to have relationships with people—and you know this even just in your own family, right? We don’t even have to go to churches. Just think about the messiness in your own family sometimes as well.
And so just listening through all of that, I was reminded just of God’s grace. And it was like Jesus was telling me in that week—because I was really discouraged, and just, I felt like my energy was just drained, and I was almost not even—didn’t want to go into church that day, and it just, it really hit me. And God just reminded me of that message, like, “Steven, that is why you need a savior. That’s why I died on the cross.” It’s like, there is nobody perfect. It’s only Jesus Christ.
The Church is a Hospital
And even in Luke chapter [5], Jesus reminds us. It says:
And Jesus answering said unto them…
So he’s talking to the Pharisees. He said,
“They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
And so when we think about church life and the churches that we are going back to this, you know, after today, it is a hospital for the sick. And we can’t put this expectation on our churches to say “Hey, every program, every message, everything needs to be perfect,” because a lot of times we then make it about ourselves. And it is not about us, right? Amen? It is about what Jesus Christ did for us, and we get to take that message of hope and that word of encouragement to the world, to the hurt, to the needy. Our churches should be full of people that are in desperate need of Jesus Christ. And guess what? That starts with the pastor. That starts with me. Because if you know my life, you know that I am desperate. I am so desperate for Jesus Christ, constantly, because I am flawed, and there are so many areas in my life where I just need Jesus. Right? And I am grateful that I can go to a church that will encourage me in that walk, and that I can be a pastor and encourage our congregation and encourage you this morning as well.
Always Rely on the Holy Spirit
There is a warning for us in 1 Corinthians chapter 10:12. It says:
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
The church should never be a place where we feel so self-righteous in a sense and think, “Oh, I have arrived, there are no issues in my life,” because it is those moments that we just might fall. Right? And so it is always about coming humbly to the Lord and on a Sunday morning say, “Man I have not arrived. I got to continue to keep growing in my faith.” And our journey of faith in the church is marked by growth, repentance, and reliance on God’s grace, not by achieving perfection.
There is a Latin phrase that Martin Luther coined. I am gonna try and not butcher it, but I totally agree with this, and I think we see that in the book of Romans. It is simul justus et peccator, okay? If you are better than me in Latin, I apologize if I butchered that. But here is what it means: “Simultaneously righteous and a sinner.” And so there is this working of God in our lives where we are sinners, right? As long as we are on this side of Heaven, in the flesh we will deal with sin. Nobody sitting here today can actually say, “Hey, you are perfect.” We all deal with stuff. But on the other end of it, because of what Christ has done on the cross for us, we are also righteous, right? And we are just in front of God as well. And so you have this tension of like, yeah, walking on this earth, we have challenges, we have sin, but on the other end, God’s mercy and his grace and what he’s done on the cross for us is working in our favor. And we are also righteous, and we are just. So that is amazing. And just again, I think when we read the book of Romans, that all becomes very clear for us.
So I want you to know, just as we think about our churches, ministry is messy because it involves real people with real struggles. But it is in the mess that God’s redemptive power is most evident. We see lives transformed, not because of our perfection, but because of God’s mercy and grace. Right? And so that is wonderful, that in the midst of all of our challenges, our brokenness, the things that we bring every Sunday morning to church, right, that God is not looking for a perfect church, but he wants us in those moments to rely on his grace. He wants us to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit in those moments.
Keep Your Eye on the Ball
And so as a church this morning, I want to just encourage you, keep your eye on the ball. This past week I had an opportunity to go and play golf for the first time this summer, and it was rough. It wasn’t good. I enjoyed the fellowship and the person that I went with. And there’s just constantly that temptation—you’re supposed to keep your eye on the ball, and it’s like, man, I’m just looking everywhere. Right? And you could see that in my drive. It wasn’t very good. And so this morning for us to say, as we look at our churches, don’t look for the flaws. Keep your eye on the mission of your church. If you’re part of Salem Covenant Church, our mission is to Encounter God, Equip People, Extend the Gospel. This mission calls us to action and not perfection. We are to be vessels through which God’s love and truth are shared with the world.
God’s Picture of a Perfect Church
So God does give us some information on what it means to be that perfect church, and we can be that perfect church when we do the stuff that God is telling us. And so, just, I’m gonna close with these two verses. First one is Colossians chapter 3. It says:
Therefore, as God’s chosen people…
That’s you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ sitting here this morning, you are his chosen people.
… holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
And then Romans 12 verse 9 to 13:
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
If we do all those things, if that’s our focus, man, we’re gonna have amazing churches and amazing experiences.
In closing, I want to remind you that God’s love for us is not based on our perfection. Our Heavenly Father knows our weaknesses, our flaws, and our brokenness, and yet he chooses to work through us. The beauty of the gospel is that God meets us exactly where we are at in the midst of our struggles and imperfections. May we leave here today with hearts full of hope, knowing that God’s work in us is ongoing. He’s faithful and he will complete the good work he has begun. Let’s embrace our journey of imperfections, and all with the assurance that God is with us, for us, and working through us.
