What is the Church? What is it not? Is it people? A building? How do we behave? What traditions matter? Why were we started? If we pitted Jesus vs. the Church, what would the difference be? So often the church is described as boring, disconnected, annoying, predictable, and anything but trustworthy. Yet Jesus is eccentric, lives way out of the box, showcases unpredictability by touching lepers, befriending prostitutes, enlisting tax collectors, and even welcoming children in a culture that had little to no value for them. Many church people are narrow-minded, judgmental, overly political, and down-right hypocritical and hateful. Yet, we see a Jesus who loved people who hated him, blessed and prayed for people who persecuted him, and welcomed and shamelessly loved on the types of people who religion rejected. So the problem and conundrum we have facing us today is that far too often the Church pales in comparison to Jesus…but aren’t we Jesus’ church? Let’s dig into these deeper together.