Please enjoy this excerpt from Manage Your Mission – Living wisely and abundantly for today and eternity. This book will help craft your life mission, establish its priorities, and succeed in each area: Faith – Family – Fitness – Field – Friends – Fun – Finances.
There is a truism that if you ever found the perfect church, you’d ruin it by joining. But it is crucial to find one that is theological sound, has a good leadership structure, and offers a solid Christian community in which to live and grow.
We love our current church even though we don’t view baptism as they do. But that isn’t something we will divide over because there are many other strong positives and a rock-solid core.
Most people reading this will be close enough to various churches to choose the best one — which can be good or bad. You don’t want to church shop to find a place to make you feel comfortable with your sins or entertain you. Instead, you want to find one with sound theology and good practices. As John MacArthur once said in a Podcast, if you can’t find a good church, go to the least bad one you can find.
I used to think that most churches were pretty much the same, but as I grew in my faith, I discovered that many denominations are train wrecks of bad, God-mocking theology. They actively deny the essential beliefs of the faith. They are indistinguishable from the world. They are enemies of the cross.
Chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation describe common ways churches can get off track. That’s a good place to review, for starters. In addition, here are a few simple tests to see if a church is legitimate and a place where you want to commit. As you might expect, these tie into the False teacher section below.
The Internet makes it easier to screen churches, as you can usually get information online and watch some sermons. For starters, you should review their mission statement or statement of faith. They should not only believe that the Bible is God’s inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word, but they should use it accurately. Some churches claim to believe it but abuse Scripture to justify all sorts of weirdness. I strongly prefer verse-by-verse preaching through books of the Bible rather than topical sermons or messages from other books.
Ask the leaders if Jesus is the only way to salvation. The Bible teaches this over 100 times, so if they can’t affirm that simple truth, Christianity may not be their forte, and they are highly likely to fail on many other issues. Denying Jesus’ exclusivity for salvation is almost always accompanied by other heresies and world-loving views. You should immediately leave.
You should move on if you see a rainbow flag on their site. Some churches seem bold about calling out sins, but only if they are unpopular. Racism is a sin, but it is hardly bold or daring to say so. Ask them if homosexual behavior is a sin. If they can’t give a clear response, then leave. They shouldn’t be mean-spirited against gays or single them out as if they are the only sinners, but neither should they pretend the behavior isn’t a sin. I’ve known countless LGBTQ+ people and have always been kind to them. I’ve worked with them, played on volleyball teams with them, had hundreds of ballroom dance lessons from them, and more. But the Bible is spectacularly clear:
- 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior denounce it as a sin in the strongest possible terms.
- 100% of the verses referencing God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman.
- 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children).
- 0% of verses refer to homosexual behavior positively or even benignly, or hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions.
People may not like what God says in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. If you love your neighbors, you won’t lie to them and say such behavior isn’t sinful. If churches compromise on this, they’ll compromise on other things. Again, love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. You don’t have to convert people’s sexuality before sharing the gospel with them, but you should never affirm wrong behaviors. That is unloving to both God and neighbor.
Do elders have the authority to monitor and hold the lead pastor accountable? If not, then go somewhere else. Unfortunately, some pastors lack accountability, which can result in abusive, cult-like, or false teaching situations. Their elders have no real power or are “yes men.”
Does their worship honor God, or is it man-focused and more entertainment than worship? Do they focus on preaching to believers, or is every service an altar call? Of course, you should be kind and welcoming to visitors, but church is supposed to be believers gathering together for worship and learning.
Do they welcome sinners? Of course, everyone is a sinner, but would they accept someone who is an ex-con, has had an abortion, or is tempted by same-sex attraction? If such people were trying to infiltrate the church to change its teachings, that would be one thing. But they should be welcomed if they are authentically seeking or already saved. Sadly, I’ve heard of churches that do prison ministry but don’t want ex-prisoners as members. You might not want to tempt an ex-thief with handling the collection plate, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a member. I pray regularly that my church will accept anyone attending for the right reasons.
Do they exercise church discipline? It may seem odd, but exercising it is a sign of a healthy church. It acts as a deterrent, honors God, helps victims, and helps reconcile people. We’ve seen two churches do biblical church discipline, as outlined in Matthew 18. It was a great example to the congregation and a blessing to those directly involved. Side note: When Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” in Matthew 18:20, he spoke about those who exercised church discipline according to his guidance. It wasn’t that he leaves the room when only one Christian is there and rejoins when someone returns.
Churches shouldn’t be shy about calling out sin for what it is. While it isn’t productive when pastors push particular candidates from the pulpit, we shouldn’t let the world dictate what topics we can discuss in church. For example, abortion kills children, so whether or not the government is involved, we should not be shy in saying it is a sin. And Progressive churches are all politics, all the time with their pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ+, pro-illegal immigration, pro-forced wealth redistribution, etc. Do not let non-believers silence you. Politics is about the ethical use of power and a significant way to love your neighbor. How could Christians not want to weigh in on that? I want my neighbors to be protected from being killed, to be able to speak freely, to be able to defend themselves, to have schools that don’t try to pervert children’s minds, and more.
I have nothing against effective youth groups, but the Bible says nothing about them. When our kids were teens, the youth group mainly focused on entertainment, and the youth leader had weak theology. So, we were glad our kids wanted to opt out of it, as we liked having the family together on Sunday nights. But if your children participate, you’ll want to monitor their theology and practices.
And while Sunday school classes can be great for youth and adults, I’ve seen too many times when they’d let anyone teach the classes, regardless of training, knowledge, or worldview. Ensure uneducated Christians, or even wolves in sheep’s clothing, aren’t teaching your children. And even if the lessons aren’t false, they are often weak and watered down. If we expect youth to learn chemistry, algebra, Shakespeare, etc., we should be able to teach them theological and apologetic arguments. We challenge them in every other area of life, such as academics and sports, so why not with their faith?
When I did some substitute teaching for high school kids at church, I would teach the same lessons as adults: verse-by-verse Bible studies, decision making and God’s will, evangelism, apologetics, and other theological topics. The problem is when churches tailor the teaching to the lowest common denominator, but those kids are probably unsaved. They need to hear the gospel. You want to live life with fellow believers, so take your church home very seriously. Again, there will always be room for compromise, but consider these suggestions carefully.
Copyright 2022
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible
Eternity Matters 