Messy Church Quotes

“Love at the expense of truth is no love at all. Truth at the expense of love turns to tyranny.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“The truth is most of us end up preferring isolation in our church. It’s safer and there’s no risk of getting hurt. I’ve got my relationship with Jesus and you’ve got yours. If I need some help, I’ll open up—a little—maybe, and receive the initial benefits of community, but as for laying my heart out there to a group of people who may leave or abuse it, that’s not going to happen. This is the true challenge for our church families, all of which live in a divorce culture.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“The family analogy is the best picture of what a healthy and vibrant church community is supposed to look like. If you think about it, families are perfectly designed for discipleship: constant access, consistent modeling, demonstration, teaching and training, conflict management and resolution, failure, follow-up and feedback. And this should all happen in an attitude and atmosphere of love. Children are raised, parents are matured, and grandparents are valued all at the same time.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“Many churches approach ministry to people through the lens of an educational system instead of through the analogy of the family.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“Humility isn’t as much a character trait as an action. We must clothe ourselves with it. We choose to wear it or we don’t. If God has to humble us, it’s too late—and that’s going to be a bad day. We all have to demonstrate the humility of Christ in our actions.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“Taking on the identity of Christ is a significant concept that helps define who we are as God’s people. Out of many, we become one!”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“Salvation is more rooted in knowing a person than in knowing theology.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“Age has a way of sobering us. Our experiences, our disappointments, and our failures have a way of shrinking our expectations. Sometimes they wound us in a way that steals our faith and bankrupts our dreams.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“The truth is, we are part of something greater than our own personal preferences or felt needs. We are part of a worldwide family of believers who belong to each other with a history and a heritage defined by a loving heavenly Father.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family

“Church can’t be a place where we feel like a visitor, or somewhere we’re afraid to allow others to see our messes. It’s got to feel like home.”
― Ross Parsley, Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God's Family