Why do people have the “no church is perfect” mentality?<\/p>\n
I had a conversation with my mother about a church she was trying to convince me to go to. It was a church I knew about, and I told her I didn’t want to go because the church she spoke of was part of a denomination. I also knew it would have unbiblical beliefs. She responded, saying that “no church is perfect.”<\/p>\n
Should we as Christians believe no church is perfect? I believe this mentality can be used as an excuse to avoid addressing serious issues like false teaching.<\/p>\n\t
Local congregations are composed of imperfect people. Therefore, it would be expected that each congregation will have some imperfections. We see this in the descriptions of the churches mentioned in the New Testament. While some churches, such as Philadelphia, had no spiritual problems, they faced external problems (Revelation 3:7-13). However, Jesus never told churches to accept their imperfections. They were commanded to improve (Ephesians 4:11-16).<\/p>\n
This is no different than discussing a marriage. No marriage is perfect, but this doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter who you marry or that you must accept abuse. However, despite flaws, two people who are committed to striving for a good marriage will work to improve it.<\/p>\n
Some people leave congregations at the first sign of difficulty instead of working with brethren to strengthen the church. Others stay with churches that are not following the Bible and have no inclination to change. Both extremes are wrong. You find one that is fundamentally striving to follow the Lord and work with the group to improve.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Why do people have the “no church is perfect” mentality? I had a conversation with my mother about a church she was trying to convince me to go to. It was a church I knew about, and I told her I didn’t want to go because the church she spoke of was part of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[448,608,56],"class_list":["post-97039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church","tag-excuses","tag-perfection"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86400,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-shoppers\/","url_meta":{"origin":97039,"position":0},"title":"Church Shoppers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord\" (Romans 12:10-11). Some areas in the world are blessed with multiple congregations in close proximity. What a blessing it is to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-sister-is-involved-in-drugs-and-left-the-church-how-do-i-deal-with-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":97039,"position":1},"title":"My sister is involved in drugs and left the church. How do I deal with her?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My heart is heavy.\u00a0 My sister and her husband are no longer in the church. They have chosen a worldly lifestyle, and tell their children, one of whom is baptized, that they don't need to go to church to get to heaven and that churches are full of hypocrites.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46286,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/devaluing-the-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97039,"position":2},"title":"Devaluing the Local Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Glen Young via\u00a0Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 25, June 22, 2008. The local church occupies an important position in God's scheme of things. It is through the local church that Christians execute certain works. These are works that God commands that can only be accomplished as a group in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17978,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happened-before-the-restoration-movement\/","url_meta":{"origin":97039,"position":3},"title":"What happened before the Restoration movement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been discussing with a lady about the importance of worshiping God in \"spirit and in truth.\" I told her that the seed was planted in America according to the biblical pattern.\u00a0\u00a0Her question is \"what happened to all the people between the time of the early church and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42981,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-mother-wont-let-me-change-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":97039,"position":4},"title":"My mother won’t let me change churches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am 16 years old and I don't want to attend the same church as my family does. For a long time, I've wanted to change churches for my own personal reasons, but after going to this camp, I feel like God wants me to go to this certain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59347,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-right-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97039,"position":5},"title":"The “Right” Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert F. Turner A brother told me his friend asked if the church of which he was a member was the true church. The brother is an honest, conscientious man, and he said he couldn't tell his friend the church of which he was a member was perfect. 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