Sure there have been some exceptions, but generally speaking mainstream christianity leaves me frustrated.
So it was a great surprise towards the end of my working life that God called me to pastor a small church and lead a state-wide restructure of the denomination of which that church was a part.
But apart from those rare times when I could make a contribution to the way the church worked and to what it believed, church involvement was (and still is) a huge struggle.
I often ask myself why this is so, since so many of my friends enjoy church and are heavily involved in its activities, and have finally been able to articulate my reasons in just one simple sentence.
For a church to be attractive to me
it needs to be
and
- believing and proclaiming the good news that God is the Creator and Saviour of the world
- preparing believers for their priestly function in the coming kingdom age.
The ways in which a church might do these things can be as varied as it likes, but if these goals are not being achieved, or at least being genuinely desired, then it will never attract me.
Many churches do good things of various sorts for their members and the communities in which they are located, and would therefore qualify as good social or community clubs.
But I am sure Jesus did not establish his church to be a social club, nor did Paul believe a social club would make God's wisdom known to the authorities in the heavens.
I hope you have found and are involved in a good church - I'm still looking for one.
Blessings, Barry
Bible references for my "good church" requirements:
ReplyDeleteGod is Creator of the world
- Genesis 1; Heb 1 : 2
God is Saviour of the world
- 1 Tim 4 : 10
Preparation of believers
- 2 Peter 1 : 3 - 11.
Also a brief, but complete, description of the gospel we should be proclaiming is given by Paul in 1 Cor 15 : 3 - 4. No more no less.
Bible references for the Jesus and Paul sentence at the end of the post:
ReplyDeleteThe church Jesus is building will prevail over Hades
- Matthew 16 : 18
Paul explains God's intention for the church:
- Ephesians 3 : 10.
I am currently not in a good church, nor any church as I am in a remote location. The two best church experiences I had were in two places I lived. One was where I was first saved, and although I attended 3 churches in that town , of differing denominations, it was not the denomination or the pastors, but the people God had planted in those denominations who taught me, led me, nurtured me & supported me and continue to do so today, even though the distance between us is great. Phone & email are good enough. The second town led me to a wonderful couple who taught me a great deal. The bible study we had, the kindness they exercised towards me helping with problems, my self discipline and many other issues reinforced the experience of the people in the first town. This couple moved away and it was a great loss, but the memories I have of their love, teaching & support stays with me always. The special part was I was actually married by the husband of the couple a few years ago & still carry the specialness of their love inside me... summing up, these people were Jesus to me. Were the churches good? There were elements that were not so nice, but God put people in them who have left a lasting life long impression on me. I may now be in the wilderness without a church but all I have to do is remember what they taught me and remember that Jesus was in control when he put these people in my life. Thats enough for me... thanks jesus for the great people you gave me, they are the CHURCH that helped me grow. Blessings everyone, and thanks for the blessings on this blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story with us.
DeleteI loved the way you finished up with
"Thats enough for me... thanks jesus for the great people you gave me, they are the CHURCH that helped me grow."
Phone, email and the internet are the ways God is using to surround me with the CHURCH too.
Blessings, my friend.
Please stay in touch.
Barry