There is a quote commonly attributed to St. Augustine, “The church is not a hotel for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.” It’s a lovely idea, and one that many Christians readily agree with. And why wouldn’t we? We love the idea of healing, love the idea of grace. We want the church to be a place where we can find healing for our heart wounds. Jesus said, “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

But when the wounded start to come through the doors, when they track in blood and messiness, all of a sudden, this hospital idea isn’t so appealing. When people come in who don’t have their act together, when church relationships get messy and difficult, we often want those wounded to “get it together”. 

We Christian-ize it, of course. Accountability. Holiness. Spiritual maturity. Don’t get me wrong – these are all important things; necessary things. Since sanctification is not really objectively quantifiable, we often equate “right actions” with spiritual growth. What choice do we have, really?

If we are honest, we don’t like messiness. We like to have things neat and tidy – including relationships. 

However, the reality is that messiness is a part of life – especially church life. We cannot expect people to come through the doors already cleaned up. We cannot expect people to come and clean up the messiness, the sin in their lives overnight.

The church is supposed to be a hospital, where sinners can hear the Gospel. Where the wounded can find healing. 

We need to start somewhere…

A teaching hospital is one where “where you’ll find residents—doctors who have earned the academic right to use the title doctor but aren’t yet licensed, experienced doctors” (Source). These student doctors have to learn somewhere. As Christian, we all have start somewhere. We have to have the room for mistakes. We need to have the safety and room to fall, and have someone help us get back up. And we need those who are more mature in the faith to teach and guide us.

May our churches be hospitals- places of healing and hope. No one can provide the cure that our soul-sickness requires; only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do that. What we can do is be the healing hands that exemplify the love and grace that Jesus shows us.

Is it easy? Of course not. 

Will it be messy? Beyond what you can believe.

1 John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” When we have truly and deeply experienced God, we are able to love.