I’ve been through my own season of being hurt by people and leaders at the church in which I’d loved and worshipped and served. Sadly, it wasn’t the first time a Christian person had hurt me. What I’d learnt from the past hurts, though, was to keep on attending, to keep on worshipping with all the heart I could muster (even if I cried), to keep on trusting the God of the place. Through my hurt they were times when I could acknowledge the ways I was maturing, which made me able to thank God for even the painful parts of church life.

Church isn’t all Christmas pageant and welcome home picnic, new years’ praise party and retreat weekend. Church is bumping up against people who are loving Jesus the best they can too. Church is being challenged to step out of the comfy spots into the growth zones. Church is serving people who don’t always say thank you. Church is submitting to leaders we don’t always feel like submitting to. For all its tricky bits and painful bits and even messy bits, she is the Bride of Christ. Believers meeting together with the common goal of loving God and loving others is the place we’re made to be regularly. We share our love for God and demonstrate how that looks for us in a group setting. Other believers share their experiences and practices and we all move along. And we all get the privilege of practising loving others on each other and those outside the group too.

Just because it can get messy doesn’t mean we stop trying. Sometimes we have to move on; sometimes our best plot for growth is with another group of God-lovers. But we keep loving God in groups. We need those other God-lovers in our lives and they need us in theirs. We’re not meant to be alone.

What are your favourite bits of church?