That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NKJV)

 

There is no perfect church, if we define perfect as one that is free of conflicts and inconsistencies. Every one of us still has a lot of growing up before we are fully mature like Jesus (cf. Ephesians 4:13ff).

There is a misconception among believers that they can have a relationship with Christ without having a relationship with His Church. Such believers often use their disappointments with fellow believers to justify their estrangement and isolation. This goes against the gospel's teaching that every believer is connected to Christ through His Body, the Church (cf. Hebrews 10:25).

While certain circumstances necessitate the need to change churches, they do not justify avoiding church altogether. Simply put, if we choose to be "on our own" without any godly fellowship, we will end up making our own rules and believing whatever seems right to us.

The Apostle Paul prays for every believer (including you and me) to "comprehend with all the saints" the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ's love (even though it is beyond all knowing) so that we are all filled to the fullness of God.

What is the fullness of God?

Knowing that God is love fills us with the desire to love Him and others (1 John 4:11). As a result, any believers who claim to love God but are unable to love God's people have faith that is "a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1). Their dismissive attitude towards other believers is clearly not consistent with the gospel of grace. Do not give up on the church. Christ did not. Neither should you.

What is God saying to me here and what must I do?