The Perfect Church. Oxymoron or Paradox?

How would you describe the church? 

For some, adjectives like angry, hateful, judgmental, two-faced, and legalistic come to mind. As a pastor's kid, these words are a part of my childhood memories. Even as an adult, I have had experiences that these adjectives would accurately describe.

What are your adjectives for church?

How would Jesus describe it? The answer comes to us in Revelation 21 (NRSV)

9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."

If the church is the bride of Christ then the next verses describe her:

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lab. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed; twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall; one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones; the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third Chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

What a heavenly description. 

Until recently I thought this city, the New Jerusalem, was heaven. We even sang a hymn by that title. A city of the future! 

But no.

This sparkling image of the perfect "city where they need no sun" is the church. It is illuminated by the glory of God and Jesus is its light.

I wonder if Jesus had this beautiful church-city-community built on generations of faithful grace and truth in his mind when he said, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5:14 (NRSV). 

Jesus sees what we are becoming - a beautiful community that reflects his glory and his light.

The "perfect church." What a hopeful paradox.