Biblical Principles to Assist Your Search

So, You're Just Looking

I avoid salesmen. I just like to look around when I shop. I don't like to be hurried. I don't want to be pushed. And if I have any questions, I'll ask the salesman when I'm ready.

I think most folks are that way. And when an individual or a family begins looking for a church to attend I suppose they "shop around," excuse the terminology, in the same fashion. They don't want to be hurried or pushed. And they'll ask questions when they're ready. But for now they're just looking.

This flier is not intended to push or to sell, but to inform. We shop for a new car far more effectively when we know what's on the market. You might think of this leaflet as a sort of consumer guide. After all, what decision is more deserving of an informed choice than one involving you and your relationship with God?

You obviously attach some importance to such a decision. You're reading this pamphlet when you could be doing other things. That says something about what you value. And choosing a church to attend should be an informed decision. Its consequences are too far reaching to be otherwise.

Who am I to inform you about where you ought to go to church?

That's a good question. Fact is--I'm nobody important. But I'm a nobody who has read his Bible. And I'm a nobody who wants to go to heaven and help others do the same. Those are my only qualifications. You'll have to decide for yourself whether they're adequate to help you make an informed choice. But please hear me out.

Let me suggest five things to look for in a church.

A People of the Book

First, look for a church that believes that the Bible is God's word. It is a common notion today--even among religious people--that men cannot understand the Bible, much less understand it alike and agree together upon it.

I presume that you have understood with little difficulty the contents of this brochure. If you can understand my speech, that of an ordinary man, then is it not reasonable that God who created us and our capacity for speech could write a book that you and I can read and understand together? What sort of logic would argue otherwise? God would not be God if He couldn't do that. And He would not be God if He did not want to do that.

In Matt, 19:3, some Jews asked Jesus whether it was right to divorce one's wife for any reason. Jesus answered, "Have you not read?" The Son of God presumed that had these men read the Bible for themselves with pure motives they would already haveknown the answer to the question. Jesus taught that men could understand the Bible.

Find a church where the Bible is read and followed. Where it is read from the pulpit. Where it is read in the Bible classes. Where the people are encouraged to read it at home. Where men study it, believe it, obey it. And not just part of it, but the whole of it.

The Tie that Binds

Secondly, look for a group of people who genuinely love one another. Jesus said, "By this all the world will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). That is the test that Jesus gave for identifying His people.

It's not hard to tell if people love one another. Do they speak to one another? Do they embrace one another when they meet? Is their conversation spirited and lively, or indifferent? Are they warm and gregarious, or are they cold and private?

And don't forget that genuine love is not just maudlin sentimentality. The wise man said, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov. 27:6). A friend will tell you when you're wrong. He may hurt your feelings. But he wouldn't be your friend if he didn't hurt a little to avoid your hurting yourself a lot.

Discipline is the mature side of perfect love. The church that doesn't weep when it's people sin and doesn't correct them when they stray has only learned a confectionery love.

A Resolute Posture

Look for a church with backbone, a church that stands for something. We live in a time where people are ashamed to state their convictions. We shun expressing our moral standards for fear of offending someone whose standards are not as rigid as ours.

"Sin" has consequently become a dirty word because it constitutes a moral judgement concerning another person's behavior. "Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God"(1 Cor. 6:9-10). That's my judgement.

But it's my judgement because it's God's. I only quoted what He said about sinful behavior. There's no evidence that God has changed His mind about such activity. And if He's not changed His mind then churches are no friend to man when they have not the concern for lost souls to warn them about the end result of sinful conduct. Look for a church then that has not let the word "sin" slip from its vocabulary.

God-centered Worship

Look for a church that reveres God. Folks often ask when they visit our services why we don't have a piano or organ. The answer is really quite simple. God didn't ask for it in His worship.

We enjoy music like anyone else. But we assemble to worship God. It is He that we seek to revere not our own aesthetic interests. God commanded that Christians worship him in song (Eph. 5:19). We'll not give God something He didn't ask for.

It would be selfish on our part to tailor our worship which is meant for God to fit our own personal desires. It would be like the fellah who bought his wife a fishing boat as an anniversary gift and asked if he might borrow it on occasion.

When the satisfying of our own desires defines our worship, then worship becomes man's present to himself and not His gift of thanksgiving to God. Look for a church that really honors God and doesn't place their affections above Him.

A Singular Mission

Look for a church that cares about your soul. We have homes in which to raise our children. Kitchens, dens, and back yards in which to entertain. Public and private schools in which to educate. The church alone is caretaker of the soul. The church is people who congregate for the purpose of fitting themselves for association with God in eternity. It's business is the soul. Not the body. The soul. Not the mind. The soul. Not the appetites.

I'm suspicious of new gadgets that do many things but no one thing well. When churches burden themselves with gadgetry that educates, that hospitalizes, that entertains, that provides an arena for sporting events, they forfeit the noble purpose for which God designed His church.

When a church in the NT had begun to assemble for the purpose of entertaining its people, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God?" (1 Cor. 11:22).

The Lord is not opposed to hospitality. But he expected hospitality and other social activities to be an extension of the home, not an appendage of the church. To do otherwise Paul said is to despise God's church and to detract from its singular mission to help prepare men's souls for heaven. Look for a church that cares too much for your soul to be distracted with keeping your family entertained.

How to Proceed

Well, those are my recommendations in looking for a church. I hope that you've noticed that I've not made any suggestions without pointing you to the Bible. I would be careless indeed to do otherwise. Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Matt 16:19).

The church was architected and founded by Jesus Christ. He alone has the skill and the authority to dictate the form and function of churches. To proceed without Jesus' approval and His word as our guide is to dishonor Him who died that men might live. Be certain that in your quest to serve God and to make any decision, you read His book. And consult it again and again and again.

Thank you for you time. If you have any questions, you can reach me or one of the other local preachers at 281-998-8184. I'd be delighted to talk with you. Or, come visit the Southside Church of Christ. We meet at 4110 Preston Avenue in Pasadena. Thank you and best wishes in your quest to serve God.