Picking a church can be a tough thing to do. Whether you are new to the faith or you are in transition and looking for a new place to worship, finding a fellowship house can be a tricky experience. Here are a few things to look for when deciding on how to choose a church.
1. Evaluate what you need
spiritually. If you are a brand new believer, you
need detailed teachings of the scripture and how to apply them to your life. Thus
you would need to be in a church where there is a strong discipleship program
or heavy biblical teaching. If you are struggling to develop your prayer life
or press into worship, you may want to seek out a church that is strong in
these areas. If you need support in your single life or are newly married, you
may want to fellowship in a place that will encourage your growth in these
stages of your life. You need to take an honest look at what you need spiritually
and seek out a church with that in mind.
2. Make sure the core
beliefs are scripturally accurate. When choosing a church
you should make sure that the church believes in The Trinity, Salvation and the
process of transformation, the immaculate conception, heaven and hell and
Christ return. If churches do not
believe in these things, they are in some level of error and should not be attended.
This is not a difference in doctrine. These are core tenets in the gospel and
if a church does not believe in these they are not a church you would want to
attend.
3. Don’t get caught in
tradition. Perhaps you grew up in a church where
there was a choir. Don’t be afraid to choose a church with a worship team. Maybe your last church
had a pastor that was of your same ethnic background, don’t be afraid to choose
a church with a pastor who is a different ethnic background than your own.
Perhaps your old church did not use the baptism of the Holy Spirit, don’t be
afraid to look into a church that does. It is okay to choose a church that does
things that are different than traditions you are use to, as long as their
behavior is not anti-scriptural.
4. Beware of churches with
one-sided messages. Now, I think it is important to
point out that every pastor is given a specific call from God when it comes to how
he or she ministers. For example, some pastor’s are called to minister to people from
the inner city, some from the country. Other’s are called to college ministry
and some to family centered congregations. So with that in mind, every pastor
is going to have a bias or a tilt in what and how they preach. However, if a
pastor’s teachings are so one-sided that they only teach about grace and love
and never about holiness, sin or the transformation of the believer’s heart,
this is problematic. Church should not only encourage us, it should also cause
us to feel conviction. This being said, if you never leave church feeling even
just a little convicted, there may be a little bit of bias present and you will
want to be careful of that.
5. Beware of churches that
exclude people on leadership based on age, gender, class, or race. This
is not biblical. God has called people of both genders (male and female), all races, ages and economic class groups to preach the good news. If you visit a church that doesn’t allow women,
certain ethnic groups or people of various ages in their pulpit, run in the
opposite direction. (See Galatians 3:28)
6. Consider the
practicalities: Is the church close enough that you
could get there consistently? If you have children, does the church have a children’s
program or is the church open to a children’s program being started? Is the
church willing to let you serve (note I do not mean necessarily on leadership.
But be sure that the church wants to allow you to serve even if it is in hospitality,
fellowship ministry, etc.)
XOXO,
Myah Lonye’
0 comments:
Post a Comment