From Ray Ortlund:
“Some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. . . . What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” Philippians 1:15, 18
A church can be controlled by a horizontal dynamic of winners-and-losers, the people focused on each other, disappointed with each other, grumbling about each other — self-righteousness bumping up against self-righteousness, hurting and getting hurt.
Or a church can be controlled by a vertical dynamic of response to Christ, the people looking upward, amazed at him and his grace — broken but grateful sinners coming together because all they need to be happy is Christ himself.
Your church might be dysfunctional. But if Christ is being preached, even with impure motives, that should be enough to make you happy. It might be all you’re going to get out of your church. And if you require more, who gave you the right to overrule the Lord Jesus Christ as your only treasure and satisfaction and sufficiency?
