Do you have to be demanding?

 Nikolas Berdiaeff

The people today who are not themselves close to Christianity claim vehemently that the Christian Church should consist of perfect and saintly people. They are the same ones who condemn the Church for granting a haven to sinners, imperfect souls and pseudo-Christians. This is one of the commonest arguments against Christianity. But this reasoning does not understand the nature of the Church and, in the end, forgets its whole purpose, because the Church exists, above all, for the sinners, the imperfect and the despicable. It goes out into the world and labours among people who are floundering in sin. Celestial in origin and eternal in its inception, it works in time and space without having recourse to extremes, away from the world of sin or indifferent to its torments. Its fundamental obligation is assistance and the salvation of the world for eternal life, its elevation to the heavens.