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The idea of “church” carries with it an unfortunate idea that we need to portray a certain level of goodness. So many people avoid attending because they feel like they’ll be judged, yet just as many wallow in it because they constantly feel like they aren’t reaching a standard that they see in others. There’s a famous saying of “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” If true, is that all church is?
Dead people welcome
This phrase has been repeated throughout modern Christianity, from small-town pulpits to best-selling books. In just a few words, it speaks a certain truth about the church that is so often misunderstood. The church isn’t a place to show off our righteousness – it’s where we go when we realize we have none apart from God.
When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
Lest we make wrong assumptions, Jesus isn’t saying there are some who are so righteous they don’t need Him. He’s poking at the Pharisees who paraded about as though they had no sin, yet needed to point out the sin in everyone else. We all have sin, which necessitates that we all need Christ (1 John 1:8).
Christ came to call the lost to repentance and salvation through His death and resurrection. The local church isn’t a place to go when you have it all figured out and you’re ready to hang around other perfect people. While the church isn’t the only means of proclaiming the gospel, for many it’s the first place they’ll ever hear that Christ died to save us.
Those who are dead in their sins need the church, not a “country club,” as my own pastor would say. To those in need of Christ, the church is a hospital.
Sick people can come too
Of course, the church isn’t only there to bring people to Christ. In fact, the more we tell others of Christ, the more we allow our church to fill its other roles. “Pastor” means shepherd, and he needs to be able to devote himself to building up the people God has given him to lead.
It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12)
This is the crux of the church being likened to a hospital. It’s easy to walk into church with fear or pride, wanting to show everyone that we have it all figured out. We love listening to a sermon and saying “Yes, indeed, I’m sure someone here really needs to hear that.” Yet it takes humility to walk in with the express purpose of allowing the Holy Spirit to grow us through the teaching we hear.
If a church is filled with people who aren’t growing, there are only a handful of explanations:
- The pastor isn’t speaking truth
- The people aren’t practicing truth
- No one needs truth because everyone has reached the peak of their holiness
From my experience, #3 seems rather unlikely. Yet how many of us spend each day living like that’s true? How often do we walk into church willing to care and pray for others while neglecting our own sinfulness?
Sure, some Sundays can feel like an annual checkup at the doctor. We spend a few minutes hobknobbing with other believers, listen attentively to a sermon, and at the end we go home not feeling much different. That’s never to say that we wasted our time, but there are days when our biggest growth is being faithful in attending while God plants seeds that we may never realize.
However, if we’re really looking over ourselves for lumps and sores, then Sunday is can be a time of emergency surgery. The Holy Spirit often uses that time to bring us under deep conviction, revealing our hidden sin and leaving us with no choice but to repent or keep fighting Him to our own destruction (Ephesians 4:30).
Cooperative triage
Of course, it’s not just the pastor’s job to take care of us. His primary goal is to equip us to serve Christ, not just in theory but in actuality. One way he equips us is by teaching and encouraging us to serve one another.
Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
We come to church sick. Whether it’s a lifelong sin we still choose, fresh grief, or a new struggle, we have a spiritual family that cares for us. We’re called to come alongside one another when we see a believer in need, whether physically or spiritually. When someone is sick, we care for them.
The beauty of family is our desire to love and be loved. When my wife or child is sick, my primary concern is taking care of them. I don’t care if I have to keep dumping a trashcan or repeatedly bring a blanket, remove it, and add it again. When we’re equipped to love other believers, we do so by caring for them, yet we should be vulnerable enough to admit our own weaknesses too.
Sometimes we need to let ourselves be the sick ones. We can become so zealous to help others that a church building can quickly become a group of people holding out a helping hand while never asking for help ourselves. That’s not holiness or humility – it’s pride. It’s selfishness on our part to remove someone’s ability to follow Christ by helping us carry a heavy load.
Home care
Just as we’re equipped to serve others, we also become increasingly equipped to care for ourselves. Sunday isn’t the only time of the week we’re accountable for our sin. It should absolutely not be the only time we draw closer to God. Just as we sin every day, we need to kill sin every day.
(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. (Romans 8:13)
Personal time with God is essential to our lives. As we develop the wisdom and maturity to know God more, we use that to further deepen our relationship with Him. While sin is definitely a huge issue in our lives, it’s only by seeing Christ more fully that we’re able to not only see our sin, but care enough to kill it.
We sin because we love it, but we’ll kill it because we love Christ even more. If we’re only learning about God 1 out of every 7 days, that can only mean we’re filling our souls with something else for the other 6. Whether we’re new believers or have been in the game for decades, we simply can’t afford to neglect our spiritual health throughout the week.
Hospital, not hospice
Yes, the church can be seen as a hospital. But too often that’s used as an excuse to persist in our sin and remain weak in the faith.
For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
Spiritual growth and maturity aren’t just for pastors, theology nerds, or Super Christians. Just as we expect a 10-year-old to eat solid food, God expects believers to continually grow and develop in their faith. We may have times where we’re weak, but if we have the Holy Spirit then we will always be trending upward in our spiritual walk.
This is why we can’t leave the statement at “The church is a hospital.” It is, absolutely. The church is for those in need of growth. The church is where we go when we’re hurting. However, the purpose of a hospital is to get well, not just keep persisting in our sicknesses until we die. It’s a hospital, but should never be hospice.
From death to life
Christ is the cure! He’s why we don’t have to be stuck in fear, jealousy, bitterness, lust, or any other sin we struggle with. Our passion for God (and hatred of sin) increases as we seek to know Him more. We need only take hold of Him every day as we discover that His glory is more precious than the shallow pleasure of sin.
We’re all born sick, unable to pursue righteousness on our own (Romans 3:10-12). He gives us the church, our pastors, and fellow believers to benefit us as we likewise benefit others. The Holy Spirit grows us through these various sources as we walk in obedience (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Christ saved us from the penalty of our sin (Romans 6:23). Out of love He not only saved us from sin’s judgment, but He continues to save us from its deceptive delight. May we never fail to see ourselves for what we are, yet never be content to stay that way!
But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. (Colossians 3:8-10)
This article was originally posted 4-4-19
