To Restore, Renew, and Rebuild

After fifty years of walking with the Lord and serving His people, I find myself carrying a growing concern, not aimed at any group in particular, but a spirit that seems to be settling into the conversation around the Church. There is a tone that has become far too common, one that assumes certainty without depth, and critique without love. We are quick to speak, slow to listen, and often slower still to weep. There’s a temptation in all of us to stand over the Church rather than within her, to act as judges instead of servants, as analysts instead of intercessors.

Yes, the Church has her flaws. She always has. But she is still the Body of Christ. Still the temple in which the Spirit dwells. Still the beloved Bride. When we forget this, when we lose the reverence that should accompany our speech about her, we risk speaking against what God has chosen to love, and what Christ has chosen to redeem.

We do not heal the Church by wounding her further with our scorn. We heal by becoming part of her healing. We reform her not with sarcasm or suspicion, but with sacrifice, humility, and deep affection. It is far too easy to tear down what others have spent their lives building. Far harder—and far holier—is the path of those who labor to restore, renew, and rebuild.

This is a call for all of us: to return to the posture of Jesus, who could name what was broken without breaking communion, who could speak the truth without abandoning love, and who continues, even now, to intercede for His Bride.

May we learn to do the same.