Why love the church?

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck write in today's Washington Post on why they love the church in spite of her imperfections:

We've been in the church our whole lives and are not blind to its failings. Churches can be boring, hypocritical, hurtful, and inept. The church is full of sinners. Which is kind of the point. Christians are worse than you think. Our Savior is better than you imagine...

We love the church because Christ loved the church. She is his bride--a harlot at times, but his bride nonetheless, being washed clean by the word of God (Eph. 5:25-26). If you are into Jesus, don't rail on his bride. Jesus died for the church, so don't be bothered by a little dying to self for the church's sake. If you keep in mind that everyone there is a sinner (including yourself) and that Jesus Christ is the point and not you, your dreams, or your kids, your church experience might not be as lame as you fear.

I hope you'll read the whole thing. Here's a video of DeYoung and Kluck talking about their new book Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. I'll be writing more about it as soon as I have a chance to read it.