Q: How do you propose Christians should choose a church? We hear a lot that music is bad, speaking is bad etc, and therefore, I do not choose said church. Are we always led to great churches (Houston) or do we pick? *Disclaimer: I chuckled to myself that you asked me a question regarding church. I have wrestled with the idea of church and this exact question for so many years. So I am by no means an expert, but rather someone that is answering this out of my own journey to find an answer to this same question.
A: The first place I would start is to develop a working biblical ecclesiology. Ecclesiology is the term used in theology that is devoted to the study of the church. Developing a biblical ecclesiology will serve as a road map for understanding what a Biblical church should or should not look like.
Thankfully, before Jesus left, he gave us a few clues of what His people, the church, were supposed to be about.
Before Jesus ascends into heaven, he begins to prescribe the next step to His followers. He knew, without a doubt, that his disciples would be lost without Him. So he did what any good parent does before they leave. He wrote instructions CLEARLY so that they would know what to do.
- We find Jesus in the gospels telling his disciples, “I will build my Church.”
- We also find Jesus giving his people a mandate right before he ascends into heaven…
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20. - Then in Acts 1:8 (which is also the thesis statement of the entire book of Acts), there is another bullet point of direction.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
- Then after Jesus’ ascension, while the disciples were waiting for the next step, the Holy Spirit makes his presence clear through some crazy tongues of fire and understanding of different languages. Shortly following, thousands of people are saved because the disciples spoke through the power of the Holy Spirit and essentially Christianity and the church is birthed.
- In the beginning of Acts, all we know is that Jesus gave His people the Holy Spirit and a mandate to not keep the message of salvation to themselves (Jews) but to share it with the world (Gentiles). And the book of Acts is the documentation of how the spread of Christianity and how the church expanded.
Throughout the books of Acts, we see the people of God gathering together. They are organizing themselves for the purpose spreading the gospel. There are secondary things that happen such as worship, fellowship, and teaching, but the primary purpose is to share the Good News to the ends of the earth. We see persecution and disagreement as a catalyst for sending people to the ends of the earth. The church was sent out. It’s primary purpose has always been outward, never inward.
Mark Driscoll gives this definition of the Church in his Book “Doctrine”.
- The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and Communion, are unified by the Spirit, and are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandments and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God’s glory and their joy.
Each of these bolded phrases are different characteristics or principles of the church. It is important to make this distinction between principle and method. These principles are timeless, Biblical, and evident across cultures. These principles provide context or an ecclesiology for evaluating churches. I would suggest that you turn these bolded phrases into a credential “checklist” for finding a church. These bolded statements are also 8 different blog posts, so I won’t elaborate on them.
These principles manifest themselves differently depending on the culture and context in which they exist. Methods include things such as music preference, a pastor’s specific preaching style, or even the trendiness of the building. Methods unfortunately are usually the primary things that people base their decision of where to attend or where not to attend. Somehow as believers, we have become consumers and base our decisions on what a church can do for us personally (inward focus).
The Alicia summary of all of this is…
The purpose of the church is to be a sent people (outward focus) to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. It should be the training ground for people to learn how to share their faith, to disciple those they lead to Christ, and to encourage those to do the same thing (evangelize, disciple, send out). Then there is beauty in the fellowship of saints and worshipping with like-minded individuals. We soak up Scripture because it is our guide and our fuel to keep us going. When these things are central then somehow methods become less important. So as you pick a church, find out if they have a global purpose. How well do they disciple? Are new people coming to Christ? Are people being sent out?
I think that choosing a church can be one of the biggest challenges that we face. I speak from personal experience and a lot of wrestling with the dissatisfaction of my church experiences. But typically this is because I was looking for a church that met my needs, when really I should be looking for a church that needs me to contribute something. Maybe there are times we choose a church because their greatest weakness (and sometimes our biggest frustration) is the exact strength you have. And the reason why you choose to be at a church is because they need a catalyst for change. You might be that catalyst. Choose to serve where you can be poured out and add value to the body of Christ.
The times where I have been most content in my church were the times that I was serving and contributing to the body of Christ. It is a lot harder to complain or be dissatisfied when you are doing ministry and have your hands dirty with service. So maybe the best thing you can do to be apart of a church is to serve her.
I find church to be so very important. It is sad to see so few people really committed to a local body. The church is the war room. I think moving across the country to be a part of a church is kind of the exception, but whatever we do, we need to give our lives to the local church. We will be missing out on one of the greatest institutions that God blessed on this earth. So if you struggle with being committed to your church ask why. Maybe it’s because we aren’t apart of the real purpose of evangelizing, discipling, and sending out. Once we start to be about the original purpose and intent of the church, we might find ourselves needing the local church in new ways. It stops becoming a place that meets our personal needs but becomes the fuel that flames the fire.
What are things that you consider when choosing a church?
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