Do You Belong?

Many believers or nominal believers attend or go to churches and think that is all there is.  God wants you to belong, not just attend, and there is more than a subtle difference!  Members, not just attendees (people committed to the body and having taken the leap of faith publicly).  You must realize first that the church is a family and must have committed members who need and rely on each other as a family who is there for each other.  Actually, our church family should be closer than our physical family, if they don't believe it.  I, myself, never felt that I belonged (though I did feel I belonged to my former church as the church greeter) until I was inducted into my church and went through the initiation process (accepting the authority of the leadership, even giving my personal testimony to the body. (I think of Paul telling Timothy that he gave a good testimony in the presence of  many witnesses).   I was given the "right hand of fellowship" and felt an acceptance that I couldn't express in those words before.

Many people go to a mega-church which is more of a "crowd" than a church--you can be invisible (not what is meant by the "invisible church")  in that kind of church and nobody knows you are there or not  (how can you make an impact like this?) if you don't make some extra effort to make friends, that is. It is more difficult, if not impossible to have the sort of "family orientation" or feelings that should represent the body of Christ.

Many mega-churches are that way because of the reputation of a preacher (ironic since Christ was more interested in quality than quantity)  and the church can be, but isn't always mind you, a personality cult, that will fade away after the preacher passes on.   The church I go is not dependent on the preacher to hold it together--it is the fourth or fifth oldest church in Minnesota and has withstood six church splits and has survived, even as a Baptist church, which has a lot of negative connotations to us Minnesotans--those legalists and backsliders!

You must ask yourself, "Do you just attend?" or "Do you belong?" because there is a difference.  The church is an organism, not an organization and that means it should be alive and interactive, and not just people following the leader or taking orders like in a corporation or military outfit.  The church is not a dictatorship but a union of believers who need each other and work together as a body with Christ as the head, not any one person (Christ is in all believers!).  Try to think of the progression as follows: believe, belong, become!  If you want to become what Christ wants you to be, you must first be a believer, then you must belong.

To sum it up in a sentence:  Only in a family can you have what the church aims to do:  Have accountability, intimacy, unity, common goals, growth, and bonding or fellowship.  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is A Healthy Church? Are You A Happy Camper?

Rationale:  Other teachers have taught on this subject and I am not ignoring them, but my purpose is to tell my own personal insights after having been in many churches during my life.  First of all, let's tell my story, we have a choice to go to a church where we can be of service and God can use us, or we can go to a church where we feel we can fellowship and most importantly grow with others of similar doctrinal persuasion--just how important are our beliefs?  I had a sudden awakening where I realized that what I believed was important and I couldn't compromise that anymore.

I went to a church that had a motto of "a place for you."  I felt needed there and God gave me an opportunity to serve, but eventually I woke up and couldn't tolerate the church government and the doctrines of the church that I couldn't approve of any longer--specifically the watering down of the gospel message and the so-called agenda of the pastor who didn't seem to know the Lord any better than me--though I don't deny he was Spirit-filled and put a lot of fire into his sermons and he should've put more of his sermons in the fire!  I would fall asleep during his sermons because I heard it all before--he repeated himself as a methodology.  I was ready for greener pastures.

I now know that God can speak to me through a pastor who doesn't necessarily get that worked up, but is more the one that God wants me to listen to and I can relate to.  I firmly believe that we go through spiritual stages, that there is a right church for us at a certain level of maturity.  I started out as a Lutheran, and I am glad I didn't remain loyal to that denomination, seeing how liberal most of them have gotten.  We are not to be faithful to a church, but to Jesus Christ--there may come a time that we have to take a stand and decide where we want to be and what God wants us to do, and knowing who we are in Christ is vital, i.e., knowing our spiritual gift or calling (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10). 

We are not to look down on our brethren in other churches or to become sectarian (1 Cor. 1:10ff), which is a sin according to Paul who rebuked the Corinthians for saying they were of Paul, Peter, Apollos, or Jesus himself!  We don't take pride in our labels; in fact, we shouldn't label other believers at all and we are not called to straighten the church because we disagree and think they are wrong.  Who wrote the book on comparing ourselves?   God condemns those who cause division among the brethren or who are divisive, quarrelsome, or schismatic, and we should warn them to "strive for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (cf. Eph. 4:3).

A healthy church is a serving church that is involved and has opportunities to reach out and minister.  A healthy church must have a vision ("Where there is no vision, the people perish," cf. Prov. 29:18).  But some people will end up being converted to the program, not to Christ!  The pastor has to know where he wants to lead the flock and be one step ahead of them and not be a one-man show but is involved in the body, realizing that he needs them as much as they need him (for all parts of the body are necessary).  There should be no doubt that it is the Lord who is the head of the church and not an individual who is a control freak or power-hungry and likes to be number one like Diotrephes. 

Choirs are fine, but they are not necessary, because the goal is to get us to worship--worship is not vicarious, but involved--the question should not be "What did you get out of the worship today?" but "Did you give God the glory and worship Him adequately?"  Soli Deo Gloria!  Worship is giving one his due!  The church service is not a show where we see people perform but sincere heartfelt worship that involves us personally.  Worship leaders should not draw attention to themselves, but focus the glory on Christ--and this is a calling and gifting to be able to lead in worship. 

A healthy church is not a crowd but a family of interacting and fellowshipping believers or called out ones as the term, ekklesia, from the Greek implies.  Some churches give no opportunity to get to know the members and one can get lost in the crowd or lost in the shuffle--nothing against so-called mega-churches if they have interacting "mini-churches" or subunits that give the members the opportunity to reach out individually and exercise their spiritual gift.  Each member has a ministry to the church members and a mission to the unsaved.  Most of all the church is an organism, not an organization.  Many people are rightly against the institutional church because it smacks too much of institutionalism.  Jesus himself was anti-establishment and a revolutionary in his own right--turning the world upside down.

Many people are turned off by the church because it is too much like the establishment--we need to get away from that image and tailor the church to the needs of the members and not all churches are at the same level spiritually; but we should not think we are the only church in town doing God's will(a sect or cult thinks they are right and everyone else is wrong, being the only show in town), or have cornered the market on truth and have a sort of Bible-club mentality.  No church has a monopoly on truth or has the right to judge other churches--they are there for God's glory and He has a purpose for them and the people in them. 

We don't want to be a dead orthodoxy (it must preach the Word, as Paul taught the "whole counsel of God," and not just pet doctrines or passages, as commanded, and not be content just to be doctrinally correct) but a vibrant interacting fellowship that members can call their home church.  It should be their second home and the body of believers should be their second family.  The members are in solidarity with each other and don't feel someone is not needed or isn't useful to the body.  A healthy church recognizes elders and deacons among candidates who desire the office, it doesn't make or elect elders and deacons but recognize them--this is a gift and a calling and like teaching one exercises it and sees if God blesses him and given him the gift.

Harmony and unity (not uniformity) are essential in the church and discipline must be done to divisive brethren that cause division over nonessential doctrines.  St. Augustine's dictum was right:  "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity."  The early church was known for four elements:  the Apostles' doctrine, fellowship, prayer, and the breaking of bread or communion (cf. Acts 2:42).  The sign of a powerful church is what Jesus said, quoting Isa. 56:7, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." As they say:  The church is not a hotel for saints, but a hospital for sinners--no perfect people need to apply!

In conclusion:   If you think you have found the perfect church don't join it (remembering that the Reformers called the church semper reformanda, or always reforming) because it will no longer be perfect!  Soli Deo Gloria!