Let’s say that as I am getting into bed tonight, the Lord sends me a message. “To whom it may concern. This coming Friday night, I am going to blow out the flame and remove the candle stick of Post Falls’ Calvary Independent Baptist Church.” Being convinced this really is a message from Christ, I share this news with you via email and then again on Wednesday during our Prayer Meeting. It might be interesting to try to picture your response. Skepticism? Joy and relief? Fear? Confusion? On Friday night, true to His word, God permits an arsonist to set fire to this building, leaving Marah and our other residents only time enough to escape with the clothes on their backs. Furthermore, after Marah texts me, and I rush over to watch the fire, but two blocks east of church, a drunk driver runs a stop sign, hits my car and killing me instantly. Two days later, you gather at the Kjeldgaard’s house, remembering the Lord’s message. And you begin to wonder if it is really true – the building and the pastor of Calvary Baptist are gone. Of course, you are all still here, and it is you who make up the Lord’s church, but what should you do? Then to top it all off, your treasurer tells you that a year ago, I told him to let our insurance lapse, so that all you have left is a blackened hole in the ground at the corner of 12th and Spokane Street. Is this fictitious? Yes, it is. Is it impossible? No, it is not.
Convinced that Calvary Baptist Church is no more, how do you begin to look for another church to attend? What is the process for finding a church which God would like for you to join? What tools and resources are available to you in this search? You might decide to search as a group, or perhaps you decide to move away and begin over again as a single person or a single family. You might not think of your search as being particularly important, but actually it is. It needs to be done properly. It needs to be done according to Biblical principles.
Now consider our text. We don’t know at what point in his life that David penned this psalm. He may have been fleeing from King Saul, or he may have been thinking about living among the Philistines. Was he considering whether or not to return to Jerusalem or to flee the city before the sword of Absalom? Whatever it was, David was praying for – and was confident in – the Lord’s leadership. He was not leaving this decision up to fate, chance, his own understanding or to anything else. He wasn’t letting his wife’s emotions dictate to him what they should do as a family. He was asking God and watching for divine leadership.
“Unto THEE, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.” David wasn’t going to trust something as important as his soul to any of his counselors or friends. “O my God, I trust in THEE: let me not be ashamed…” “Shew me THY ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.” Lord, I want you to shew me, teach me, and lead me. “For thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.”
How many thousands of Christians have been saved by the tender mercies and lovingkindness of God, but later, through a lack of wisdom and bad choices tarnished or destroyed those blessings? How many Christians have remained babes in Christ, because they chose badly when it came to a church? I know it is not the same, but you could say that David was forced to look for a new place to worship. He was searching for a new church through which he could honor and serve his Saviour.
Now that you are being forced to look for a new church, and while fully trusting the Lord for guidance, what things should you keep in mind? Oh, and by the way, in David’s case, and in the context of my illustration, you are being forced to look for a new church. There is no Biblical precedent – there is no logical reason – to go “church hopping,” simply because you want to make a change, or you want to add a little excitement to your religious experience. Nine times out of ten, if not nineteen times out of twenty, people who drop out of church, or move to a church across town, do not have a reason which will stand up before the Judge, the head of the church. God is not going to be pleased to hear you say, “But there isn’t anyone who is my age, in that church.” The divine Judge isn’t going to be happy to hear, “But I am smarter than any of the members in my church,” or “my economic status is different from all of them,” or “they don’t understand me.” Rather than complain and forsake the church where God has placed you, why don’t you bring other people your economic status, or your age and your IQ to your church? Why don’t you help to build the church where God has placed you rather than to jump ship? People who want to leave Christ’s church for reasons such as I mentioned are as irresponsible as the man who wants a divorce because he’s grown tired of his wife.
And by the way, the things I intend to say tonight about looking for a church, could be turned around, applying them to reasons why someone should stay in the church where God has placed him.
There are many useful TOOLS in looking for a church today.
There is the internet, and many churches have developed websites – which they use in different ways. There is are a variety of search engines, scanning different criteria: Is it a King James Church: is it part of a convention; has it been in the secular news and why? Additionally, there are physical tools to use in your search, like newspaper ads.
But something to keep in mind in using these tools is TRANSPARENCY. Many churches seem to go out of their way to cloke and veil who and what they really are. Just as many Baptist churches are changing their names to hide from a heritage they no longer honor. They won’t openly say whether or not they preach God’s sovereignty or His demand for repentance. They refuse to declare what they believe about the nature of a Biblical church, or their position on the return of Christ. Their Facebook page and Saturday newspaper page boldly declare they are “the friendliest church in town.” That tells you nothing at all; it is totally subjective. How do they define “friendly.” And besides, two other ads on the same page say the same thing. But in truth, some church in town really is the friendliest, but does that make it the most Godly, the most Spirit-filled, or the most evangelical? Every one of Christ’s churches ought to be warmhearted, but there are other, more important things, which ought to go along with their amiability. If that church’s website says nothing about what the church believes, maybe you should assume that it doesn’t believe what you believe – or perhaps doesn’t believe anything important at all.
Another tool might be the TESTIMONY of some acquaintance of yours. There may not have been anything wrong for David to listen to the counsel of his nephew, Joab. But it needs to be kept in mind that one person’s TASTES may be different from yours. And Abishai may offer a different opinion from either David or Joab. There are at least two things to keep in mind in listening to the recommendations of others. First – your friends are people not unlike yourself, and their opinions may not be much more accurate than what you already think. And number two – you are responsible for the choice you make, not that other person. You will be judged for making the wrong choice, not them even if they recommended it to you. The point is, everyone has different TASTES – some like things spicy and others want things sweet. But people’s tastes, not even your own, should be the determining factor when it comes to church.
As I have told you before, several years ago, Judy and I were squeezed into attending a large church in Knoxville. We had an early afternoon appointment, so we attended a nearby Baptist church. As we found our plush, comfortable seats and the song service began, the drums and electric bass guitar became louder and louder to the point of being physically painful to my tender and damaged ears. But the problem was worse than auditory. The beat of the contemporary music, literally began to make my insides THUMP at the speed which the musicians intended. I imagine that is what is felt at a rock concert. Some people might walk into a church service like that and interpret the THROBBING of their hearts as the influence of the Holy Spirit, but my experience was just the opposite. The TEMPO and THRILL of the music in a particular church may help you to know that is not the church for you, but it should not necessarily be telling you to “attend here, attend here.”
When we lived in Deming, N.M. I would quite often walk to church. Even in the summer, the temperature and low humidity would be mild at 9:00 am. And I liked to think that I was leaving a testimony with the neighbors as they watched me week after week, wearing my suit and tie, carrying my Bible. It would probably be a joy if we all could walk to church today, but that is impossible. And in that light, distance shouldn’t be the reason you choose one church over another. If you have to TRAVEL an hour or even two hours, passing a dozen Baptist churches in order to attend the church of God’s choice, then do it. Travel should not be one of the criteria for choosing a church.
Nor should be the TREASURY of the church under consideration. That church in Knoxville to which I just referred, probably has a yearly budget in the millions of dollars. The luxuries of the auditorium which some church can afford should not be considered as an indication of God’s satisfaction and His pleasure with their ministry. And related to that, neither should the size of the THRONG sitting in those luxurious theater seats. 50,000 or 80,000 people at the Roman Colosseum were not proof of God’s pleasure in that place, and neither is a thousand people inside the walls of a church auditorium.
Furthermore, the TENURE of the pastor isn’t a good test either. So, he’s been there for thirty years. Maybe, he’s been there for that long because he’s afraid of change, or he knows he’ll never find a church that will pay him and equivalent salary.
The most important test, perhaps even the only test, of any church must be its THEOLOGY.
What does it teach? What does it say is the truth of God? That is what really matters. None of us should have any problem in saying that a Buddhist or Hindu temple is not a place where a Christian should worship the Lord Jesus Christ. That should be obvious, because such a place does not recognize Christ Jesus as the Son of God. And for that same reason, we should avoid lot of so-called “Christian” churches. Only once have I been in a Mormon building. That was for a funeral of a friend of mine. But even then, I’m not sure I should have been there. I certainly didn’t hear the gospel that day. The Christ of the Mormon denomination is not the Christ of the Word of God. But, is the Christ of the Roman Catholic the same Lord Jesus and Son of God that we preach here? Sure, they say that Jesus was virgin born, and that He is the Son of God. But they also stress far too much that Jesus was the son of Mary. And if Christ needs the help of his mother, or his priests, or his ordinances to save a poor soul, then I’m sure he is not the same Christ whom the Bible declares. Again, I may visit a Catholic church for a funeral, but I would never commit myself to regular attendance.
And related to that, when a professing church of Christ preaches a different method of salvation from the one we know to be in the Bible, then we should not consider joining that congregation. If they say that baptism is essential to salvation, it is not a church worthy of your attendance. If they say that membership in their organization is essential to salvation, you won’t find salvation there. There are Baptist churches which teach that only membership with them is proof of salvation from sin. That is a Baptist church not to be considered in your search for a new spiritual home.
There are many teachings or doctrines in the Bible, which I consider to be important. Some churches deny the virgin birth of Christ, and others deny the reality of a literal, eternal judgment for sin. You should never consider joining such a religious organization. A church which doesn’t know the difference between baptism by immersion and an ordinance employing pouring or the sprinkling, is a willfully ignorant congregation and unworthy of your consideration. I would never become a member of a church which didn’t know what version of the Bible to use. You should never consider membership in a church which suggests that becoming a child of God or remaining a child of God is dependent on your faithfulness to God. In other words, if a church denies the eternal salvation and security of the believer, it is not a Bible-believing church and should not be considered worthy of your membership.
I could run down a long list of our doctrines, every one of which I think are important. But how important? I will say that some of them are not as critical as others. You, in your search for a new church, will have to decide whether this or that is essential doctrine. And in making that decision, you need to be honest with the Lord, and completely surrendered to His will. Be like David in this Psalm. But still, make sure that it is doctrine which determines your relationship to that church. The more doctrine you employ in your analysis, the more you will know that God is in your choice. Don’t base your decision on your emotions and don’t make friendships the basis for your decision. You can’t choose your family; you are stuck with the relatives you’ve got. But you can choose not to associate religiously with people you know to be holding false doctrine. Making that association you are giving the impression of your approval, encouraging them to continue in their errors. And you may be leading others, third parties, to join with THEM rather than with you in the truth.
I’ll close with one more major factor in your search for a new church…
What is its TESTIMONY?
For example, it may have the word “missionary” in its name. But it is one thing to call oneself “missionary,” and it is another to actually BE missionary-minded. It may even be spending thousands of dollars on missions every month, but that is not necessarily proof that the people actually care about souls. Are its members witnessing to the lost and inviting unbelievers to their gospel meetings? Is the gospel being preached merely as a formality and duty, or are the doctrines underlying the gospel being taught because they are loved by the pastor and loved by the people of the church? What is the gospel testimony of that church?
Second, what is the testimony of that church socially? There is a sense in which a scriptural church is a social institution – we are a gathering of people, a society. The question when searching for a church to join is: is that church more social than spiritual. At what point does the fellowship aspect of the society, supercede the worship and service of God. Should we join a church because it serves lunch every Sunday, and gives the kids a place to play? Should we join a church because it has a children’s church, so that we adults don’t have to be disturbed? How important is it to have a social gathering every week?
There is a lot of talk these days about social awareness. To many people that means taking a stand on global warming, homelessness and equal rights. If these things are a key part of the preaching of the church, is it a church of Christ? In my opinion when a church becomes too political, naming names and choosing sides, it is on the verge of ceasing to be a New Testament church. The churches of the Bible limited their political involvement to praying for their governmental leaders; they didn’t organize campaigns to remove them. But if by “social awareness” we are talking about taking a genuine interest in our neighbors in their needs, then that is an excellent awareness. That man running for office needs to be born again, so that he might enjoy the leadership of the Lord. And that drug addict, that ex-con, that unwed mother all need Christ – not necessarily money – salvation. To be socially aware of spiritual needs is proper “social awareness.”
Returning to my original illustration:
I have not received a revelation from Christ that our demise as a church is imminent. And I hope that no one is considering a change in churches for the sake of a change in churches. But there may come a day when you are forced to move to a new location. There may be a day when you are forced look for a new church to join and in which to worship.
I hope that if that day should come, that you might remember some of the things I’ve shared with you today.