Perfection in the church

I ran across an interesting quote concerning the local church by John Calvin and thought it was worth writing down.

"If the Lord himself teaches that the Church will struggle with the burden of countless sinners until the day of judgment, it is obviously futile to look for a Church totally free from faults".

The number of reasons that people leave churches is entirely to long to list, but in my observation and in the circles that I run in, the reason that people leave churches is because they are churches.  What does that mean?  The generation that I live in goes to church for far different reasons that the bible gives for being a part of the church.  The bible explains church to be about truth, holiness, discipline, godly fellowship, accountability, work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, receivers of the Word, examples to the world, and turning from idols to serve the living God.  

Today's generations goes to church for entertainment, baby sitting, cheap prices on summer camps to get their children out of their hair, conscience appeasing, pizza, programs, reputation, social status, and certainly for what exciting things they can provide for the kids.  Note: None of the above things have a biblical foundation for church.  

Back to Calvin's quote.  Those who are always looking for another church, because the one that they are a part of has so many faults.  All the future churches they go to will have faults and the overlooked truth is that the fault most always is in the person who keeps finding faults.   

Final observation:  Instead of looking for a church free from faults, perhaps you could find a church that would expose your faults.  That is what a biblical church does, because the biblical church exist for the glory of God and not the exaltation of man.  As John F. MacArthur said, "It is absolutely essential that a church perceive itself as an institution established for the glory of God.  I fear that the church in America has descended from that lofty purpose and focused instead on humanity".