A Dirty Church

I have never understood the phenomenon of toy collectors. The original Barbie doll sold for $3 in 1959, but today one in mint condition can be worth thousands. The same is true of old G.I. Joes and countless other toys—as long as they are still in the box.

But what fun is that? Barbies are meant to be played with, not preserved! Some things become more valuable when they are kept neat, untouched, and like new. Life isn't one of them.

Proverbs 14:4 says:

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of an ox.

The point is fairly straightforward. You can have a clean manger if you don't have an ox—but you will also have a smaller harvest. The ox costs money. It eats. It smells. It makes a mess. But it also makes the farmer far more productive.

We must be careful not to confuse neatness with productivity.

Productivity comes with a cost—time, money, energy, inconvenience, and sometimes mess. God is not calling us to live immaculate but sterile lives. He calls us into the mess of meaningful work.

That is true for us individually, but it is also true for the church.

If we want a perfectly clean church, the easiest solution is to eliminate all the people! People bring mess. Kids spill things. Ministries wear things out. People come with problems, needs, and complicated lives. But stepping into that mess is part of what the church exists to do.

A few weeks ago, I found myself on my knees cleaning coffee stains and water spots from our church carpet. I could be annoyed by the seemingly endless spots—or I could remember that every stain represents people using this building, gathering together, and being ministered to here.

The church is not meant to be kept in the box. It is meant to be used.