I was part of a church body before I was born. My parents went faithfully; my father taught Sunday School. Mama told me the Sunday after she gave birth, I was in the church nursery. Apparently, there was less worrying about being exposed to germs in those days.

My first memories of church were of Sunday School. Aunt Faye was my teacher. We had Kool-Aid and cookies, and there was Play-Dough – which we did not have at home.

There were wonderful stories about Jesus. Church was family, literally. I don’t remember any sermons from childhood, but I do remember sitting with my mother, feeling secure, feeling loved by everyone.

I love church when there is love, grace, and acceptance. I love when Jesus followers gather and there are no power games, no posturing, no trying to hide our true selves. I love church when we can be real about our failures, our faults, and our sins, and our confession is met with forgiveness and grace.

I love when a church comes together and does something great for God. It occurred to me several years ago that every church building is a miracle. What other explanation can there be? People get a vision of what needs to be. They voluntarily give money so a tool can be provided for God’s work. All the gifts matter, whether great or small. Where else does that happen? Maybe a few museums or hospitals. But look how many buildings have been built in the name of Jesus, by the faith of God’s people. 

I have also seen churches do great things for God that have nothing to do with brick and mortar. A young woman gets pregnant. She is cast out by her parents. The church rallies. An older couple opens their home to her. A Sunday School class gives her a shower. Someone from the church quietly tells the pastor, “I’ll cover her medical care.”  This is a great thing for God.

I love the church because I see the hurts of people healed. People come into the circle of the church body broken and hurt by divorce.

Over months and years, God heals their souls. They find hope. They learn to walk with Jesus. This is a miracle in slow motion. 

I love the church because God does unlikely things. The middle-aged widow who wonders if there will be a second chapter of life meets an older man who never married. Now they are newlyweds, sitting together like teenagers on the back row during the worship service. Only God could write such an unlikely story. Or the young couple that is dedicating their first child to God. They are so full of hope, and that child is so full of promise.

That young Mom and Dad know they need God’s help to be the parents that child needs.

I love the church because I see people embracing new ways of living. Old, powerful voices are silenced. The new voice of the Holy Spirit nudges them in the right direction. In my six decades at church, I have seen alcoholics get sober, drug addicts come clean, and porn addicts find peace. I have seen people from horribly abusive families break the old family patterns and build healthy families. I have seen couples one step away from a lawyer’s office recover from deep hurt and build a more hopeful marriage.

I love the church because when someone passes, the church rallies. We know death hurts. We show up with food and words of comfort. We support by just being there. No institution, no organization speaks to grief like the church. We are there for each other.

I love the church because it is a laboratory of love. When I am with brothers and sisters in Christ, some of them irritate me. I’m not proud of that. But gathering in the name of Jesus reminds me that I am to love people, even people I disagree with politically. I learn to be kind to the annoying, gentle with the wounded, and patient with those different than me.

In our day, church attendance is falling at an astonishing rate. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the biggest reason people stop attending church is because they no longer find a reason to love the church. We have to acknowledge there are churches that judge, that hate, that condemn. Frankly, I don’t want to be part of that church either.

Andy Stanley said he felt led to create a church that unchurched people would love to attend. I think that is a worthy goal. It is simpler than you think. We just need to make the church like Jesus. Isn’t that the goal?