It’s easy to forget amid the sins and scandals and shortcomings of the church – but the church is the bride of Christ.

She is messy and misunderstood. Terrible things have been done to her; terrible things, done in her name.

But she also is beautiful. She is diverse. She is so deeply loved that Christ gave His life for her, and He is faithful to her. Despite what the headlines say, she isn’t going anywhere – it’s a theological ‘til death do us part.

There will come a day when the church puts on a new white garment and becomes everything we are hoping she would be. There will be a moment when Jesus makes it all happen. But if we are waiting for that moment, we could be waiting for a very long time.

So let’s engage the beautiful and the messy right now.

That’s the cry behind the OUTCRY Tour.

Ultimately, some of that mess – the push and pull and the different opinions and personalities in the church – is what makes the church beautiful.

God always has used messy people. Jesus ate meals with messy people, prayed with messy people, loved and corrected messy people. And He left them a mess when He returned to His Father in heaven, when He sent His Spirit to them.

God still uses messy people, and He uses us to do some beautiful things.

Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing stories of local churches gathering together, diving into the mess and lifting up Jesus in cities around the country.

We’ll be gathering together in those cities, led in worship by Hillsong United, Jesus Culture, Trip Lee, Kari Jobe and more. All represent different things, different parts of the universal church. All come out of their own local churches.

We’ll be a church, ready for You.