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Shopping For The Perfect...Church

by John Urs
2/28/2007 / Church Life

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:42

We live a time of prosperity and freedom, especially in USA. We got so used with shopping options, that these become our second nature. When we want to buy something we have to make a lot of When decisions and relate our decision to price, quality, brand, etc. All these decisions have something in common: our benefit.

When I saw a video on Youtube, I laughed and I cried in the same time.
It's funny, but it has a lot of reality in it: churches accommodated so much to the needs of their "customers" and to their business need and they start to look a lot like a corporation.

Today churches are ready to do almost everything to attract people and have a
"prosperous business." It was difficult before this to make a choice because there are so many denominations and beliefs, but now is even more difficult because you have to choose the services that these churches are performing for their customers. And you look for their campus, their social activities, the quality of their programs, the length of the pastor's sermon, the newness of ideas, the diversity of their methods and why not their spiritual and moral standards.

Basically today's churches are divided in "conservative" churches and "progressive" churches (or liberal I might say).

The "conservative" churches are divided in more categories again: the "ultraconservative" and "moderate conservative."

The ultraconservative churches are those who are the preferred example used by the young generation not to attend a church. They are stuck in the language and customs of 18th and 19th century and don't want to change anything. They sing the same old hymns and talk over and over about the same things... Some say that this kind of church is like Michal , the wife of David who "had no child unto the day of her death."

The moderate churches are those who are struggling to find a bridge between today's culture and the church. These churches are more open to changes, but are careful to respect the biblical principles and the old values of their belief. These type of churches are more popular and more successful, but they are still not that popular, and they are still labeled as conservative.

The progressive churches are the churches that are adapting everything to the needs of their members or their future members, some of them are going so far that are changing all their past beliefs and practices in order to be relevant for their culture. They are very popular and many of them are mega churches...

So, which are your options as an honest church seeker? The answer is: too many and only a few! How can you make the right decision? Maybe some of you are saying: "I don't have to take this decision very serious. If I don't like this church I'm gonna go to another one. It's like buying something from Wal-Mart, if I don't like it I take it back and take my money..." Maybe others are saying: "I don't need a church at all, I can go in Mall and think about Jesus."

Before I start talking about how to make the right decision in choosing a church, I want to make one thing clear. The result of Jesus' ministry and sacrifice it was THE CHURCH and not a dispersed group of believers. And second we are not talking here about shopping merchandise, but we talk about our eternal destiny and Jesus Himself said: " For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37) The matter is too serious to be treated easily!

The only way we can define our principles when we look for a church is to compare that church with the Bible principles. It is strange...we have so many options but still looks like we have none. There are so may people in this country and we feel so alone...in among the multitudes.

The real truth is that we need a church, we need a Spiritual Body to be part of and we need other people to support us. We need more than a social club, we need to be part of the Living Body of Christ.

The first thing to consider when you look for a church is DOCTRINE. Maybe you heard the saying: "All roads lead to Rome and all religions lead to God." It's a false presumption to go by, because there is only ONE Way, one Truth and therefore we need to pay very close attention what we choose to believe. Jesus said that in the last days will be many false teachers that will teach things against the Word of God, but pleasant to the ear. We are what we learn and that's why we are investing so much in our education and in the education of the young generation. We can't be ignorant about this, the church might have nice people, good programs, many activities, great contemporary music and awesome food, but still the most important thing is for the church to have a biblical doctrine. Jesus commanded us to make disciples and to teach them His commandments. So, before asking about a million other things you need to check if that church is grounded in the truth of the apostle's doctrine.

Second thing to look for is FELLOWSHIP. The Greek word for fellowship means to enjoy and share a common thing. The apostle John says that a believer should have fellowship with God and fellowship with other believers. There is not fellowship without a real and sincere faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and without obedience to His commandments. A good church is the one where you feel and see God's presence in the congregation. Their fellowship is more than staying in the same sanctuary and singing the same hymns, but is a real interest in knowing Christ and in serving others. Fellowship means to be together in the times of joy and sorrow and to support others to
reach their full potential in Christ. Such a church is the place where you understand and support others, and others are understanding and supporting you in Christ.

Third thing to look for is GODLINESS. I know this sound like out of line, but one thing we suffer today for is secularization of the church. We became so familiar with Jesus Christ, that some theologians are already talking about churches that are "selling a cheap grace". Yes, there are some things that have to be respected as they are written. There are two ordinations in the NT Scriptures: Baptism and Lord's Supper. As you noticed I didn't say SACRAMENTS, but I still believe that we have to be very careful when we observe them. In the book of Acts it says that the first Christians observed them with clean hearts and with the proper respect. This is a principle that should influence all our ministry and worship. Today there are churches where it doesn't matter how do you dress, how do you talk, what do you believe as long as you're a "contributor" and you have a decent presence. I think we have to look for a balanced teaching and practice, but everything should be filled with THE FEAR OF GOD, or with that profound respect and holiness that should be a characteristic of a real Christian.

The forth and last thing is PRAYER. When Jesus cleansed the Temple He said that the Temple was meant to be: "A house of prayer for all nations." We are all equal when we pray!!! Because when you're praying you recognize that you're weak and dependent on God's mercy and grace, you confess that all you are and all your accomplishments are by God's grace and therefore He deserves all praise and worship. Prayer is the best answer to all our problems. We suffer because we are not praying. The reason man churches have to close their doors is because they forgot to pray: they are a music hall, a conference hall, an activity hall, etc... anything but not a house of prayer. In order to stand a church has to bow down in prayer.

If the audio-video system, if the multitude of activities, the beauty of the sanctuary, the quality of services, the multitude of members, the short and pleasant messages of the pastor, the "freedom" to worship anyhow, the benefits you have as a member or any other things are your standards for "shopping for a church" you have big chances to find a "perfect one", but bigger chances to find the WRONG one. Before you go shopping for a church make sure you are looking for the right things with the right attitude. That means you have to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and you have to be ready to sacrifice yourself for Him and for the other believers. You are so used that everything around you to be about and for you, but the TRUE church follows these rules: Christ-others-me. If you're not ready to accept this scale you'll choose the wrong church or the church will get the wrong member.

I've red the story of one man who was searching all his life for the perfect church, and when he finally found it that church was not perfect anymore...he became a member. My friend the perfect church is not perfect, but as you see in the Scriptures this church is persevering in these four things. All the members of this church have the same desire to be more like Christ and to obey Him in every detail of their life. They will fail sometimes, as David failed, but this will not stop them in their desire to repent and to be people after God's own heart.

I wish you a successful shopping.

John Urs-http://www.saltmin.com

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