A Bride Worth Fighting For

My husband asked me the other day what I thought was harder - marriage or parenting. I don’t think there is an easy answer to that question. Both have been tremendous blessings from the Lord in my life, but they have also been two of the most sanctifying experiences. There have been days where I have been so overjoyed at the privilege of being a mom, and other days where I have wept over the difficulty of loving and leading ten children well. Most of the time, I adore my husband and I’m so very grateful I get to do life side by side with him. Some days though, we hurt each other deeply, and my heart is full of anger at him. 

If he had asked which I thought was harder; marriage, parenting, or church, I suspect we may have both answered with church. Some of our deepest wounds have been inflicted by other believers. Years later, those scars are still tender. Church hurt has impacted both of us, as well as our children. We aren’t the only ones. I know many of your stories. You’ve shared how you have been shaped by your experiences in church - the positive, but unfortunately, also the negative. We hope the church will be a refuge, but too often it’s a war zone, and our hearts are the casualties. 

Michael asked me how I could still love the church so much after all we had been through. I told him it’s because I know how lovely we can be. I see our potential. 

Over the years, I’ve heard many people reference Acts 2:42-47 as as example of how far we have fallen. “If only we could go back”, they say. It seems we’ve adopted the fatalistic outlook of our culture. I regularly see believers and even pastors criticizing the church on social media. It can feel like God’s people have given up on the church. I’m not saying we don’t rightly deserve some of the criticism. We have too often forgotten our call as ambassadors of Christ, and rather than letting the gospel be the stumbling block to those who are perishing, our attitudes and actions have been the stumbling block. But people need grace to grow, and so does the church. 

On the day of Pentecost, three thousand souls were saved. The Holy Spirit was poured out, and the response was world changing. We are here today, halfway across the world, gathered as a body of believers in Alton, IL because of the events of that day. Luke tells us what happened following that day: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Count how many times a sentence in this passage begins with the word “and”. It’s almost like Luke is trying to communicate “But wait! There’s more!” These verses describe for us what the church can look like when we are devoted to the Word, filled with the Holy Spirit, fervent in prayer and faithful in fellowship. We are a force for hell to reckon with! A church like that can change the world! I don’t know about you, but I want that!!!!! And not just in heaven, but now on earth. 

Church, we can’t go back. We live in a different culture, time and location. But we can look back at how the Spirit moved, and we can turn back to the Lord, and ask Him to do a mighty work in our midst - for His glory, our good, and for the salvation of many. Jesus told Peter that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. We are that church, empowered by His Spirit to proclaim His gospel to the ends of the earth. Christ will never give up on His bride. Why should we? 

My prayer for us, believers at The Bridge, is that God would day by day heal our wounds as we apply the balm of His gospel love and truth to one another. If it’s true that hurting people hurt people, it’s equally true that healing people heal people. So may we speak words of life and encouragement to one another. May we long and pray earnestly for God to move in our midst in our day and in as powerful a way as He did in Acts. And oh, that he would add daily to our number those who are being saved! 

-Natalie Runyon