August 2019 Newsletter: When Your Church Lets You Down

Church newsletter pastoral column for St. Peter Lutheran Church, Greene, Iowa, for August, 2019.

When Your Church Lets You Down

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy,
love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
– 1 Peter 3:8

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The problem with the church is the people. Surely there must have been a better way for God to spread the Kingdom than by through this broken institution and all us sinners!

If you’ve never been let down by the church or by a pastor, don’t worry – I’m confident you will be. We have committed, faithful servants of God leading our church on the council and committees, but they’re not perfect. Sometimes they make wrong decisions or fail to follow through.

Occasionally in worship the sermon rambles, or the music isn’t perfect, or the temperature doesn’t feel right. I do my best to faithfully serve, care, and lead as your pastor, but I certainly make mistakes. I can be impulsive, I can focus on the wrong thing, or I can make incorrect assumptions.

So what can you do when the church lets you down? How will you react when your sisters and brothers in Christ don’t meet your expectations? Here are five suggestions:

First, remember that church is not about you. (And it’s certainly not about me either!) Perhaps something that doesn’t connect with you is benefiting someone else. Follow Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 10:24, “Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.” Perhaps in what’s frustrating you, there is an opportunity to serve your neighbor in a new way.

Second, remain committed to Jesus. For reasons I sometimes fail to see, the institution of the church with all its warts and scars is the way God has chosen to work in the world. As Christians, we don’t have the option of giving up on the church, because we are the church. Perhaps the worst possible responses to the church’s shortcomings are to boycott worship or stop giving. Shutting yourself off from the community of the church only serves to hurt both you and the church. We’re all on the same sinful team here, doing our best to be church together, the Body of Christ in the world.

Third, be honest. When you have a problem with something going on at church, bring your concerns to the appropriate people. Perhaps that’s me, or perhaps it’s someone on the church council or a committee. Maybe no one else has noticed the issue, or perhaps there’s a good reason you haven’t thought of. When one person has an issue with another person or group, complaining to a third (or fourth, or fifth…) person might feel good, but it rarely helps resolve the issue. Anonymous complaints and the tempting phrase “some people are saying” are toxic to community. Issues can be resolved only when they’re brought out into the light to be dealt with appropriately.

Fourth, pray. It seems obvious, but the enemy loves for us to get so wrapped up in whatever’s bothering us that we forget to pray! I pray for all of you, and I hope you also pray for me, our leaders, and our whole church community. After all, any good our church does is only by the grace of God!

Finally, when the church or someone in it lets you down, have hope! God who has created and claimed you is faithful. You have been redeemed by Jesus into the Body of Christ. And the Holy Spirit continues to work in, among, and through you! As flawed and broken as every church congregation is, it is still a beautiful thing when God’s people worship, serve, and live together in Christian community. Thank you for your prayers and faithful partnership in our ministry at St. Peter.

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Daniel Flucke