In our anchoring Apostle’s Creed there is a statement of faith that often gets overshadowed by some of the weightier elements of the Creed, such as our general belief in God and our specific beliefs in Jesus Christ. It is the statement about the church.

About three quarters of the way into the creed—after the affirmation of belief in the Holy Spirit—it says this: “I believe in the holy catholic (or universal) church”.

Do you?

When we survey the weaknesses, flaws, and even corruptions in the church it can sometimes be easier to believe in God than to believe in the church. Lots of people feel this way. They say things like, “I’m spiritual not religious” or “I believe in God; I just don’t believe in the church.”

I understand where they are coming from. Unfortunately, far too many people have had experiences in the church that did not reflect well on Jesus or His teachings. At best, these bad experiences have soured people toward Christianity and at worst they have done lasting damage to a person’s faith in God.

And yet, it’s still in the Creed. When we affirm our loyalty to Jesus we still say that we believe in His church, and we even call it “holy”. How can that be?

First, we believe in the church because Jesus believes in the church. The church is the only organization that Jesus ever promised to build. The church was Jesus’ idea and He has given His word that He would build it on the earth. Furthermore, He is committed to the ongoing purification of the church so that our goodness increases and our shamefulness decreases.

Second, we believe in the church because we are the church. Personally, I worship every week with some of the greatest people on our planet. I’m not joking or being dramatic with that statement. The members of Grace Church La Verne are radiant. Yes, they are human and prone to weakness, but they are also kind and loving and generous and devout. If I were Jesus, I would be proud to have them bear my name. Amazing people—people who care about humanity and who want to honor Jesus Christ—can be found in nearly every church around our world today.

So we believe in the church because we believe in Jesus, and we believe in the church because we know the potential in the church. In the 2001 film Pearl Harbor Japanese Admiral Yamamoto lamented the decision to attack Pearl Harbor and he was quoted as saying, “I fear all we have done is to awake a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

We believe in the church because despite our failures and frailties we see gigantic potential in the church. We see Christ’s hands and feet—the New Testament calls it His body—and we know that our best days of love, mercy, worship, teaching, and reform are before us.

Let’s reaffirm our faith and let’s do our part in being the church that humanity needs.

The Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (universal) Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.