[Cal]

Ultimately, the lesson of the Church is that God expects us to cooperate with each other, because none of us is self-sufficient. We need each other. That means each of us is incomplete, and therefore cannot have all the answers.

God is glorified in our willingness to cooperate with, defer and help one another in a spirit of brotherly love. Some of us seem to think he is glorified by each of us figuring everything out. As if, if we finally "get it" that will be the ultimate.

Discussing the nature of the Church is not a bad thing. But experiencing the Church is what God is after. That means jumping in somewhere and serving others, imperfections and all.

I don't think we get any points for being "clear" on the shortcomings of the Church while never jumping in and serving others. Let's be sure we have our priorities straight.

Interestingly, when I began to do this, the Lord didn't proceed to point out what was wrong with the Church. He began to point out what was wrong with me.

I was always saying to the Lord "They need to fix this and that. This is wrong. That is wrong." The Lord would just say, "Maybe. But in the meantime, I'd like you to address this about you...."

Over time, a lot of those problems didn't matter anymore.