Have you ever used a word so much that you stopped
thinking about what it actually means? Like the
word fine. You know you're one inconvenience
away from eating cereal out of a used vegetable
can. You're not fine. Or the word busy. When
your calendar looks like it was assembled by
raccoons on espresso. When words get that familiar,
we assume we know what they mean. That's exactly
what happened to me with the word church. I grew
up in church, but somewhere along the way, I
realized I'd spent most of my life around church
without slowing down to ask what scripture actually
says it's supposed to be. Then the questions
got loose. Is this biblical, or is it just familiar?
Is this conviction, or is it just preference,
wearing a suit and carrying a Bible? Welcome
to Grace in the Grind, brought to you by Arrow
& Roots Coffee Company, where faith meets the
everyday. Grab your coffee and let's take a sip
of this cup together. This season, we're bringing
a big question into the church. What have we
built without realizing it? Most of us inherited
our understanding of church. That's not automatically
bad, but sometimes we confuse tradition with
scripture. We confuse a full calendar with actual
discipleship and the way I like church with the
way church is supposed to be. The deeper you
go into scripture, the more you realize church
is not a religious service we attend. She is
the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, and
the household of God. That shifts our questions
from consumer thinking to biblical community.
Instead of, did I get something out of this?
We're asking, am I helping build up the body?
Instead of, is the church growing? Are the people
maturing? season didn't start with me sitting
in a dark room whispering, let's fix the church,
like some caffeinated reformer with a podcast
mic and unresolved committee trauma. It started
as a simple study for our local church class,
which eventually grew into a book called Christ
and His Church. Look, I'm an unknown author.
This isn't a sales pitch. It's about accessibility
for people who can listen while driving to work,
folding laundry, or sitting in the driveway for
three extra minutes trying to gather themselves
before walking inside and trying to act like
a functional adult. I get it. So our assumptions
shape how we live, though. If we think the church
is a service provider, we approach it like a
consumer. If we think it's supposed to be perfect,
we will be crushed when sinners act like sinners.
The church is holy in Christ. But she's still
full of broken people who occasionally act like
they need adult supervision. And I say that as
one of them. We're simply asking better questions.
What does Christ say about his church? Pot 3
is going to ask some honest, uncomfortable questions.
That's okay. They need to be asked. Because if
Christ loves the church enough to give himself
for her, we should love her enough to understand
her rightly. Pot three, Christ and his church,
what we have assumed. It's going to be coming
out later this month. Thanks for listening to
Grace in the Grind, where we keep our coffee
strong and our faith stronger. We'll see you
in pot three.