By Troy Murphy

This week I took on the task of repainting one of the bedrooms in our home. I started by sanding the walls and filling all the holes with spackle. As I inspected I kept finding more work to do.

I considered fixing a whole section by removing the drywall. I talked myself out of that and finished the prep and began to paint. I cut all the edges and began to notice all the imperfections like paint drops, lines that were not very straight, and spots I missed. It needed a second coat.

I then put on the rollers and painted, only to again see how incomplete my work really was. As I sat and looked at the newly painted walls I noticed that all the outlets were old and yellow. They needed to be white.

It was off to Home Depot and a couple hours later I sat again, now a bit more depleted, but loving my work. I then noticed the vents all needed to be changed. Another trip. More energy used up. At last I sat late at night seeing a job well done with what I had to work with. Sitting on the floor I saw the carpet filled with stains and dirt. The room needs new carpet.

How many times do we spend countless amounts of energy trying to improve something and never really enjoy what it simply is?

As I think about the church, the bride of Christ, our church, Green Bay Community Church, I am struck with how much we spend trying to fix our imperfections and not simply enjoy what we have…what we are. We are a broken and imperfect family of people who are trying to love God and others. We all need work: new coats of paint, replaced parts, updates. We are in need of Jesus and our flaws remind us of the great need we have.

May we all sit in our community and embrace each other in love with all the imperfections.

Troy Murphy is lead pastor at Green Bay Community Church