Let’s face it folks: sometimes it ain’t easy going to church. Church can be really messy, sticky, frustrating business sometimes.

There’s that friend of yours who has really been ticking you off lately. He keeps making comments on your Facebook wall that are so irritating! And if you go to church you’re going to have to see him in person! There is no “unfriend” function in real life.

Then there’s that needy guy who always hijacks you for twenty minutes, preventing you from talking to anyone else. He’s always talking about how hard his life is! Talk about a downer!

And sometimes the worship just isn’t that great. It’s like, how many times can you sing a chorus? Move on to the next song already! The sermons are pretty decent, but you wish that they could be a little more practical. A little more interesting. A little more like Matt Chandler’s sermons.

All of us have had thoughts like these when we go to church. It would be easier to stay home, listen to some worship songs on Pandora, and download a podcast of Mark Dever’s latest sermon. As Gordon Fee says:

It is far easier to be a Christian in isolation than it is to live out one’s faith in the context of all those other imperfect people who make up God’s church. (Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, pg. 98)

Following Jesus is much easier when we don’t have to deal with all those other people. I’ve got enough problems of my own without bringing in other people’s baggage. But if we stay away from God’s people we’re going to miss out on the unique power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome our irritation and anger toward others. The Holy Spirit gives us power to reach out to those who are needy and not like us. The Holy Spirit gives us power to worship with other believers even when the worship may not quite be our style.

God loves to display his power in the midst of messy people. The power of the gospel is on display when different people from different backgrounds come together to worship God and love one another. The power of the gospel is on display when people overlook offenses in the name of love. The power of the gospel is on display when we put our preferences aside for the sake of our unity in the gospel.

Yeah, it would be easier to worship in isolation. It would be easier to do church at Starbucks with our iPods and Bibles. But if we do that God misses out on the glory and we miss out on the power of the Spirit.