Loving the Church

Funny, my reading and listening intersected today in a neat way. I have been listening to John Shearouse preach on Psalm 102, Loving the Dust, and then I was reading Joshua Harris's Dug Down Deep on how Christians should relate to the Church, and was struck by this particular paragraph:

But what if we saw that the church is more than a human program, more than what we disparagingly refer to as organized religion? What if we saw that it originated in the heart and mind of God himself and that his plan began before the dawn of human history and stretches into eternity? What if we learned that the church was so precious to Jesus that he was willing to shed his own blood to obtain it? What if the church is the means by which God has chosen to accomplish his purpose for us and for the world? And what if it is irreplaceable?
If we could see this, then we'd realize that rejecting the church is rejecting God himself.

Two different things to look at, but both very much about how Christians are to love the church.

I know I have not always loved the Church as I should have. Have you?