一个非常的普遍现象，大多数人会以这样或是那样的方式说：“我喜欢耶稣，但问题是教会。” 不论是对虐待丑闻的厌恶还是对一些并没有爱的教会却在公众场合作秀的失望，又或是对一些基督徒可怜巴巴的做一些无关的事情去融合到当地的文化中的鄙视，我们都曾摇头表示：我放弃。正如2008年的一个名为《救我脱离你的跟随者》的纪录片。

【 Mega churches are a target for criticism, but we ought to  appreciate them more.

大教堂是被批评的对象，但是我们应该更深的来认知。】

That sentiment has become increasingly popular in recent years,and appears in several forms. On one level there are simply those who reject traditional 'Church', preferring the increasingly prevalent idea of 'church from home' or saying things like, "Church for me is going for a long walk with my family."

最近几年这种观点越来越普遍，也以不同的形式出现。一种是单单的否认“传统教会”，而选择“以家庭为主的教会”或是称之为：“教会对我来说就是和家人一起慢慢散步。”

There's a more nuanced version though, which involves rejecting part, but not all of the body of Christ. That's where we might say that we love the particular stream or denomination that we find ourselves in, but struggle to feel any affiliation to some of the other wings of the Church.

还有一种有些许不同的观点就是虽然也有拒绝的部分但不是全盘否定。正如我们说我们爱我们自己所属的宗派或是分支，但是纠结于接纳其他的宗派。

So whether it's felt on an indiscriminate scale or directed at a certain part of the body, most Christians can identify with the culturally-popular idea that the Church is out-of-date, misguided and spiteful. It's just that for many of us, those problems are in another part of the Church from which we keep ourselves hygienically sealed-off.

所以不管是不是觉得应该博爱或是针对身体的某一个部分，基督徒都有一个大众文化的观点那就是教会过期了，被误导了，并且怀有恶意。对我们大多数而言，那些问题都是教会里其他部分的问题，与我们是无关的。

The question is whether that's ok. Can we really do a good job of following Jesus while giving up on all or part of his Church?

问题的关键就是这种想法是否可以呢？我们是否真的可以跟随耶稣，但是放弃教会里其他的所有或是部分呢？

Jesus clearly had high hopes for his Church. He declared he was'building it himself (on the rock of Peter: Matthew 16:18), that it would not be defeated by 'hell' (same verse), that he was going to grow it with people from outside the traditional 'tribe' (John 10:16), and that even so his great prayer was for unity among the members (John 17:21). Right from the start, he understood the risks and the tension of bringing very different people together in a single, gigantic community; yet doing so still became his great plan for winning over the world (Matthew 28: 18-20).

耶稣明确的表明了祂对教会的希望。祂宣告“建立祂的教会”（在彼得的磐石上，马太福音16：18），“阴间不能胜过它”，并且祂要把外邦人带来使教会壮大（约10：16），甚至祂的祷告也是使教会合一（约17：21）。从一开始祂就知道将不同的族类带到一起组成一个合一的巨大的团体是有风险和苦难的，但是只有这样做才能让祂的胜过世界的计划得以完成（太28：18-20）。

Jesus' vision for the Church was all-inclusive and all-supportive.

耶稣所建立的教会应该是包容一切，支持一切的。

Everyone got to be a part of the same glorious organisation; the ideas of opting-out or becoming selective about who's involved simply didn't fit with it. Paul picks up a similar thread in Ephesians 2: 19-21 when he writes famously about the Church as a body of people which becomes a temple, rather than a building full of people. "Consequently," he says, "you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."

每个人都是这个荣耀团体里的一份子，那种认为可以排除或是特选某个人的想法都是不合理的。保罗有个对教会很出名的定义记录在以弗所书2：19-21节中，他提到教会是由基督徒组成的合一也就是主的殿而不是一个挤满了人的建筑物。“这样，你们不再作外人，和客旅，是与圣徒同国，是神家里的人了。并且被建造在使徒和先知的根基上，有基督耶稣自己为房角石。各（或作全）房靠他联络得合式，渐渐成为主的圣殿。”

In other words, it's not just that being part of the Church is a vital element of discipleship; we need to recognize and accept that we're parts of the whole broad Church.

换句话说，作为教会的一员，不仅仅是使徒里中的一个，而且我们要认识并且接受我们是所有教会里的一个部分。

What does that mean in practice? We probably start by practicinga little humility and submission towards those parts of the Church with which we struggle to identify.

那么具体如何去做呢？我们或许可以先从给予那些让我们纠结是否要接纳的教会一些谦卑和顺服开始。

And while trying to feel differently is a positive thing,attitudes rarely change without action. Listening to, meeting and engaging with our distant and estranged cousins in the faith is always the best way to break down boundaries and create real unity; you always find it much harder to dislike people once you've actually sought to understand them.

当我们觉得有些不同的时候是件好事情，因为没有行动就不能有态度的转变。倾听，拜访和融入我们一些远方的疏离的主内的弟兄姐妹是一个很好的方式去打破界限建立一个合一的团体；而且一旦当你了解一些你不喜欢的人之后你就会发现很难不再喜欢他们。

If you're someone who has all but given up on Church, it might just mean trying again.

如果你正好是拥有所有却放弃了教会的人，也许你要再试试。

Of course, that's undeniably hard. It's much easier to cast off a wing of the church that's racked by abuse scandals, than to willingly share in its sufferings. It's a lot more fun to enjoy a cynical giggle at the hapless attempts of an ageing local church to appear relevant in their community than to identify and pray with them. And it's much less stressful to roll our eyes at mega church behaviors than to celebrate the good in them.

当然，不可否认做到这个很难。因虐待丑闻而剪除一个教会的分支比乐意去分担这个教会的难处容易的多了。而站在一旁嘲笑一个因某种不幸而卷入当地团体的老教会也比真正的认清真相并且与他们一起祷告要容易的多。总是盯着教会里的行为也比参与其中做善工轻松的多。

Still, I believe Jesus would have us take the harder path in each case. Even if you're someone who has been badly burned or even abused by Church in the past – and I don't take that lightly – I want to believe that it can still be a place of hope, restoration and growth for you.

但是，我认为耶稣更喜欢我们在每个情况中都选择那条困难一些的道路。即使你曾经在教会里被深深的伤害甚至被虐—我并不认为是轻的—我仍然相信教会是一个可以给你盼望，医治并且让你成长的地方。

Mahatma Gandhi famously once said that "I like your Christ,I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."Our instinctive reaction is to pin that accusation on other people; on distant parts of the Church with which we feel no connection or affiliation. In doing so we become like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 who says "God, I thank you that I am not like other people", when in fact the change always starts with us. Our response in fact should be to try to be much more like our Christ; perhaps developing a love for his Church is as good a place as any to start.

甘地曾说过一句很有名的话：“我喜欢你们的基督，但是我不喜欢你们这些基督徒，因为你们非常不像你们的基督。”我们的本能反应是控告他人，特别是对那些我们觉得没有关联的远方的教会。这样做的话，我们就像路加福音18：11中提到的法利赛人“神啊，我感谢你，我不像别人”，事实上我们自己也在改变。我们真正该做的是更像基督，也许尝试去爱祂的教会是一个好的开始。

整理：于姊妹