“AMID THE MESS”

10 “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 3:10

Did God plan for His church to be made up of perfect individuals? Is there such a place where all worshipers literally like one another?

In our previous blog, we learned that we are to accept people as Christ accepted them. Here’s our last point for this series:

Acknowledge God’s plan in the midst of the mess.

God did not plan for His church to be made up of perfect individuals. If that was His strategy, then why did He choose the twelve disciples, to begin with? Instead, He chose imperfect people to demonstrate the abundance of His grace.

In today’s verse, Paul expresses the purpose of the ministry entrusted to him and the church: to reveal the “manifold” wisdom of God. This word comes from the Greek term “polypoikilos,” which means “marked with a variety of colors.” In classical Greek, this adjective referred to the variety of colors in flowers. Paul uses it to refer to the new relationship between believing Jews and Gentiles. It is fascinating, a beautiful sight to behold.

Just as the different colors of flowers are a thing of beauty, so is the collection of imperfect, broken human beings being made God’s channels of blessings and grace. God is delighted to see His children receive and extend His grace to one another. Knowing that God is using you and me despite our differences is a wonderful testament to His amazing wisdom and grace. He could’ve done things on His own or called angels to carry out His will, but He didn’t. Instead, He chose to get us involved.

So, when we see the mess in our churches—people don’t seem genuine and leaders are flawed—it just means that God is being gracious to a bunch of unworthy sinners. Imperfection can be a sign of God’s presence, not absence.

Conclusion

Jesus died not only for the nice and friendly but for everyone, including the unneighborly ones. He loves us equally. And He wants us to love one another. This mutual love proves our love for Him. So, we can’t really love Jesus without loving the church. Instead, our love for Him will flow through our love for one another.

Pursue the Savior today!