Getting to the Church On Time
While you have my sentiments in your search for a church, as I, too, have been there….with all that I have been reading from your sharp theologically inclined minds and discerning spirits, why don’t you “elevate yourselves” and go start your own church/es or at least a Bible study/prayer group….something!? Through all the “cussing, discussing, brainstorming, exegesing, spot on ideas, Greeking and debeaking,” one might lay their “hand to the plow.” Just an idea. :-)
Having been in the church for 59 years, I’m still looking for the “perfect church”…..then, again, I’d probably find myself in heaven. Now, don’t get sore on me….keep your discussions going….though I am serious. Just in case you’re wondering…. over the years, I did have to follow my own advice. It was good for me…to begin being, “a doer,” and not just exercise my intellect. (A Reader)
Some of the regular readers know of our family’s walking out of our home church some months ago. We had eagerly joined a new church plant and faithfully attended and volunteered for over two years. Our walkout wasn’t just a spur of the moment thing or even the result of a bad hair day. Each Sunday we had to commit close to four hours of time on Sunday mornings to attend the church and for that we mostly got less than five minutes of real Word. On “Walkout Sunday,” we walked out on a sermon about Henry Ford and Rosa Parks.
Since that time we’ve looked high and low for a church to attend. We considered one church that is an hour and a half away from us and another one that meets outside in a parking lot in a bad area of town (it’s the area where I’ve spent a lot of time shooting portraits of homeless people). As demonstrated in the Gas Prayer post, finding a home church hasn’t been easy.
Last week, we attended a church suggested to us by one of our readers. We’ve only gone once, but we’re thinking that it’s going to be home. It’s not perfect, but we weren’t holding out for a perfect church. Personally, I doubt that a perfect church has ever existed - just read through Corinthians or Galatians.
But I want to make a point with the reader’s comment. In our Sunday church service, the pastor didn’t preach, but his son did. He preached a sermon that was not only factually inaccurate, but was hellfire and brimstone and, in my mind, only tangentially connected to the Word. If the son was pastoring the church, we wouldn’t have lasted to the announcements. When the son’s sermon was finally over (yes, we were thanking God), the pastor took the podium, said a few words, and instantly the atmosphere changed. There was no question at all of the pastor’s shepherding gift which calmed the congregation’s hearts in an instant.
The Body of Christ has many, many folks who have the dearest of hearts and best of intentions for the Lord and it is usually these who jump out to start Bible studies, prayer groups, and even churches (reminds me of Student Council). But however enthusiastic they may be, they just don’t have the Ephesians spiritual gifting in them. Consequently, much of what we call “ministry” is a grind. As I am not gifted to pastor or shepherd, I could never have done what this pastor did for his congregation
Personally, I don’t agree with the mindset that James’s “doing” the Word equates only to ushering, greeting, manning the church’s coffee shop, or doing what the pastor needs done. By my reading, James’s “doing” involves a lot more than that.
[Note: When the pastor came to the podium, he spoke a little how there are different ministry gifts and that his son was an evangelist, not a pastor. In my mind, the son may indeed be gifted as an evangelist, but right now he is green.]
One thing to reflect upon:
faith comes by hearing….and
if you continually sit under
faulty teaching, it IS going to
affect you. This has been proven by cult research. Ordinary people without prior problems who are exposed to a cult ARE affected by it over time.
One teaching I’m grateful for is by Annette Capps, who pointed out that we have a right and a resp. to check every teaching, every supernatural manifestation, and all the fruit of a minister’s life by the Word of God………not to condemn
or accuse, not to look for perfection, but to have a compass from God to guide us. May God guide you in
your search for a church.
encouraging. Follow the Word and the Spirit of God, love people (but don’t follow
where they are in error).
Some of my most memorable and productive spiritual experiences have been in those little group meetings whether in a coffeehouse, home, basement, porch, beach, etc…nothing elaborate, just genuine fellowship, caring, sharing, praying and teaching… “one a psalm, another a spiritual song.” I vividly recall receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in just such a gathering…no “pastor in authority” was present. Were the leaders or participants “called” to do what they were doing? Perhaps, and then again, some were pretty green, rough, rusty and what, today, we might call, plain crude. But they loved God and people knowing that “doing the Word” encompassed much more than they were probably capable or gifted for. Now, we all know, “doing the Word,” is a big order, from compassion for a hurting Mom whose husband just left her…to children’s ministry from a van in the inner city…to forgiving an offense to…you fill in the blanks.
Lester Sumrall, in his formative years (18-20), did not even love (in his own words) the people but still slopped hogs during the week and preached the best he could on the weekends, wherever he could. Maria Woodworth-Etter had little knowledge of the Word and definitely no formal Bible education…but still said she was called…”scared to death” to stand up in front of a crowd. Smith Wigglesworth could not even talk…stuttered. His wife “forced” him to preach…sometimes Smith would run off the platform in embarrassment. Kathryn Kuhlman said God called several others…none would obey…so, it “fell to her.” David Cho was one of those “good hearts with the best of intentions” who started in a house….just he and his family for over a year…not much “fruit” after two years. Humble, teachable,”base”? More than likely.
I don’t think God gave us all these ideas, the knowledge and spiritual insight to justifiable critique the great lack in the local church and then do nothing about it. Perhaps the Christian church in China, India, or Indonesia would be just shaking their heads at us…thinking, “And you can’t find a church to go to?!”
Some of the best and worst I have seen in Bible studies and in the church pulpit. Even Kenneth Hagin says he was “out of his calling” when he was pastoring but saw much, learned much and produced much in those years.
Peter,
I just noticed the new tag on the blog banner. LOL! Not speaking as a prophet, but that characteristic could make it just an eensie-weensie bit hard to find a church. Maybe you should at least steer clear of the Greek Orthodox ones! ;-)
AmeriKan,
As you point out with Lester Sumrall, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Maria Woodworth-Etter, “doing” the Word isn’t all about fitting into the local church’s programs. Each of those individuals began their ministry outside the mainstream.
Kutztown,
Yeah, but I’d point the priest to Galatians 2 - Paul was quite the iconoclast when it came to those Kosher dinners.