By Jade Angelo Gascon
Executive Assistant, On Eagle’s Wings Foundation

Imperfect. More imperfect. Most imperfect.

The longer you put up with an organization, the more you become a witness to its obnoxious idiosyncrasies and to the imperfections of its people.  The more you linger, the more you know. Even if you refuse, the sight shall insist itself on getting beheld: démodé systems that gnaw your nerves, facilities that outlived pterodactyls, and people whose character flaws can vex even the most deeply mused of Tibetan monks. And, believe me, these big-time bummers also happen in church organizations.

Some churches apply operation systems vertiginous enough to make you want to vomit on the system altogether. And if you want to talk about facilities, I probably don’t. But it’s the people that can be the most revolting!

Paul struck by headache (Special thanks to Rembrandt)

I wonder how I can begin to convey here that church people can be so bad you’d be inclined to believe earth is hell in medium rare. Some get unscrupulous with money. Some give in to indecent behavior. And there are those who are just plain annoying.

The people in it must be one of the church’s toughest challenges ever. As the New Testament early church began to grow, Paul (together with the other apostles) was confronted with the hurdle of organizing people, getting their act together and correcting their misconceptions and attitudes toward Christianity. We can only imagine the hardship of leading a people of a fledgling belief worsened by an unsupportive empire and bigoted hit men.
Moses’ exotic tour de force must be tougher, though. Habitually idolatrous, the people entrusted to him were experts in subversion. Their erratic mood swings would drive any leader to incurable mania.

Imperfect, the church is. Because imperfect, we all are.

Moses: "Patience is a virtue but enough is enough." (Special thanks to Charlton Heston)

This is where the marvel of grace walks in. Despite human frailty, God, throughout history, accomplishes his purposes in and through people who are unworthy of interaction with divinity. Grace makes this possible. Astoundingly possible.

The mechanics of grace uncannily overmasters human imperfections. I must know. I’ve seen church systems and church people crash to the depths of irreparable ruin. It seems, though, that grace is designed for the “irreparable.” God knows that people fail, so He makes His grace available to strengthen the hopelessly weak, handpick the ignoble, unshackle the antihero, and metamorphose the monster of a rogue we may have become. The more we fail, the more it abounds to perfect us in ways we can’t do for ourselves.

So ask for grace. Desperately. Because if not for what it does, we would all be mere mortals grappling for heaven in futility. If not for what it does, church would be the world’s most pointless, most hopeless institution society should blacklist ASAP.

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