pa·ren·the·sis pəˈrenTHəsis/ noun a word, clause, or sentence inserted as an explanation or afterthought into a passage that is grammatically complete without it, in writing usually marked off by curved brackets, dashes, or commas.
Watch out for parenthesis, there's always something inside them... Yep check the title, re-read it. Understand it and embrace it. Put 'is' in the parenthesis and release the ‘not’... Does it still work?
What is church? We have been down this road before huh... It's the people that are adopted into Jesus' family. It's his bride, his wife as the metaphor in Ephesians 5 would highlight. Those that call Jesus Lord, Saviour , brother, and friend (and He is all of those not just one). And it is perfect. And it is broken, like all together jacked up.
It's perfectly broken. So why? Why is it perfect? The church is perfect because of the righteousness it receives from Christ (Eph 5:25-27). The church is perfect because Jesus came, lived, died, and rose to impart His righteousness in exchange for our unrighteousness. This is what the reformer Martin Luther called the Great Exchange. So what’s broken about that you might say. That all sounds good, not broken, but wait there is more.
The church is also broken, and there is no one that can fix. Well alright one person that can fix it. Alright two people, but it’s kind of a technicality. You see since the church isn’t a building (place, Holy Land, or Holy ground), it’s a Holy people, it is there where it is broken. when you enter into a right relationship with Jesus, He gives you His righteousness altogether at once. However, we pursue righteous living and mess it up literally 6 ways to Sunday. It’s called progressive sanctification (see the chart here). We progress towards Christ’s righteousness and as we move toward Him in relationship the Holy Spirit changes us so that we mirror Jesus more and more.
You are what is wrong with church. I am the problem. We mess it all kinds of up. It’s when we forget to love like Jesus loves and live like Jesus lives, that we damage our church. No not the walls, the foundation. The foundation of being on the same mission of having the same goal of communicating the same love...we cannot do those things when we are about our mission,our goals, and our self love. So what do we do? We put Jesus on the throne of our heart, and others ahead of ourselves. This will show the world that the church is broken, but Jesus can fix it. Grab a Bible and read Philippians 2, if you are pressed for time just catch the first 8 verses, and pray where the Holy Spirit could lead change.