Now the problem is, of course, that the church is made up of people. Folks say to me they don’t come to church because they don’t believe in organized religion.

I say, "You’ll feel right at home here because we are as unorganized as it comes!"

People, all different kinds of people, make up the church. I love the image of the church as the Body of Christ. If we are a body then we grow and change. We get sick and we have days of vigor. In other words, we are real. We’re not the figment of someone’s imagination. We’re not some Platonic ideal. We are a living, breathing body of believers who succeed and fail, laugh and cry, argue and forgive.

And out of all of that honest living, comes the truth.

Judging from what I’ve heard sitting in my office, a good many people avoid the church not because they think we lie but because they are afraid of the truth.

The truth is we "ain’t" perfect.

We’re certainly not pure and impeccable. We’re just ordinary folk who understand we are loved and cherished children of God.

I don’t think you get that message too many other places.