July 15, 2025 Devo

I recently received a really sad email from a man who watches our services online. He comes from a pretty messed-up family with lots of dysfunction. That fact left him fairly wounded and sensitive when he made a commitment to Christ and started going to a church. He discovered that though God may be perfect, His People aren’t. After a disappointment or two, he retreated to his home and made online church his routine. And while on the one hand, there’s nothing wrong with going to church online, it does rob us of some of the more intimate connections that God wants us to have and the truer sense of “family” that I believe God had in mind when He created the Church.
Let me give you an example. Some years ago, after speaking at a State Youth Convention in Hutchinson, Kansas, my wife and I headed for Colorado to meet some friends and do some skiing. As we drove across I-70, a storm with heavy snow and sleet blew in. They closed the interstate on us at WaKeeney, Kansas. When we discovered that the small hotel there was already filled, I remembered that the Church of God there had some people at the convention I just spoke at. We went to the church, shared who we were and our predicament, and an elderly woman offered us lodging at her house. Who gives two complete strangers lodging for a night? Family. She was just an older sister whom we hadn’t met yet.
God created the church to be the extended family for those who wear His Name. No, the church isn’t perfect. Yes, there are church members who can be mean, difficult, or critical. Yes, there are people who attend church that still have a lot of “stuff” in their lives. But the church also has people who will love you more deeply and unconditionally than anyone else in the world. The church has people who will be there for you when you go through the tragic pain of losing a loved one or facing a serious illness. The church has people who will help you, listen to you, and yes, even take you in when you need a place to stay. And the church has people who will pray for you and with you.
So if flawless, never-disappoint-you-kind-of-people are the only people whom you want to be in a relationship with, then by all means, hide in a room by yourself, because they don’t exist. But if you’re okay with some imperfect people who will do their best to love YOU as an imperfect person, then I’d like to welcome you to the Family of God. Like a wise old man told me one time, the church is like Noah’s ark filled with all those animals. It may be stinky, but it’s the only thing afloat! That’s God’s Word for you today.