The thing about the church

The church these days draws a lot of crriticism.

Many say they follow Jesus, but don't want to be called a Christian and don't attend Church.

Really, the Church has been under attack for some time now in America - and let's be honest, the church has been under attack since it started.

i was reading Doctrine yesterday and they cited these statistics from They like Jesus but not the church (or also "UnChristian").

  "... they view the church as antihomosexual (91%) judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), too involved in politics (75%), out of touch with reality (72%), insensitive to others (70%) and boring (68%)."

I’m not sure who they’re polling here however. I would imagine that some people would have a higher view. If it is ony people who don’t attend church, then this should be expected.

You may or may not think this data is accurate, but it is something to consider…

However,  we may go overboard.

If you’d ask many people how they’d want to be described, they’d probably say the following

·       Loving (as in accepting of people)

·       Relevant

·       Fun

·       Helpful (as in helping poor, and giving money away to charities)

And they’d probably say something about the early church and how great it was.

How would the early church be described?

·       Radical & Crazy

·       Passionate - about God

·       Loving – as in generous & helpful (not what the Romans said about how they helped people)

·       Devoted to prayer & God’s Word

·       Full of Faith

·       Diverse

·       Strange

Is this really how people want their church to be described as?

Would the people who give such negative criticism of the modern church said much different of the church back then?

While we want to be able to reach out to people and we want to reflect Christ well, we can’t be slaves to outsiders opinions of us.

We need to honor Christ.

So what would Christ want to say of the church?

Well, we could look to Revelation 2 & 3 and John 17…

1.     Love God 1st

2.     Worship & Fear God

3.     Love others – as in giving & caring for others

4.     Unified

5.     Holy

6.     Know & Follow God’s Word & commands

7.     In the world, but not of the world

8.     Passionate & Zealous for God

9.     Diverse & going to the world

10.  Faithful & full of Faith

11.  Face opposition & persecution

Here are some thoughts

1.     People want the church to be more generous and giving to the poor and needy and helping… but they themselves don’t want to give

2.     A lot of churches are so keen on being relevant and fun and welcoming, they miss the main point

3.     Jesus tells His disciples to expect persecution. Yet, most Christians and most churches run away from persecution. They don’t talk about suffering for Christ so much. Maybe as in self-afflicted suffering of sacrifice, but not suffering that comes because we follow Christ.

… should we be surprised that people mock and criticize the church and try to stop it from fulfilling their core priniciples?

4.     Most churches are inward focused. In the book Radical, David Platt points out a church bulletin that is lauding that it sent $250,000 for foreign relief- which is good, but then in comparison, it also includes a praise for raising $12 million for the building fund (actually I don’t remember the exact numbers, but it is comprable).
I found an interesting stat that only 10% of all Christian giving goes to missions in the least churched places.
More interesting: In America, each year, more money is spent on dog food than on missions.

5.     Jesus does want us to reach out. He does want us to accept all people. He does want us to love well. But the goal of the church isn’t the mission, it is worship & honor of God.

What should you look for in a church?

Here’s what I’d say

1.     Good, sound Biblical Doctrine at the core
everything else has to come from a foundation on the Bible
Should result in good teaching also

2.     A good community
We need each other. You can listen to a sermon online or read a book for teaching. You can sing in your car. You need to find a church where you can feel connected and encouraged – as well as where you can serve.
This may mean small groups, may not. Programs does not mean community. Find a place where you experience love & the body of Christ.
It probably also needs to be close by, so you can see people throughout the week, not just on Sundays

3.     A place to worship
Church is primarily a place for Christians to gather and worship God. There are many ways, find a place you can worship

4.     A church that reaches out
Missions, service activities, outreaches, etc

5.     Diversity & Unity
Jesus calls all people to Himself. Not just Jews. Not just whites. Not just young people. Not just old people. Not just cool people.

6.     Sacraments, etc
We need places to be baptized and take communion. We need opportunities to give and to serve.

7.     Look at Leadership
In the end, you need to trust the Leadership. I believe there should be a group of leaders, not just one. Elders. Male Leadership at the top. And above all, they must be led by the Spirit. You don’t want a place that puts on a good program. You want a church that has Christ as head and is led by the Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean unorganized and/or spontaneous, but that the leadership depends on God in prayer and faith and is committed to God’s word and God’s glory.

Church is a good thing.

It may not always be fun, but it can be. I like church. I have fun at church.

The reality is church is the people there… including you. The problem may not be the church, it may be you.

In my previous post I wrote how we hear what we want to hear.

If we are looking for something bad or weird or boring, we’ll find it. If we don’t talk with people, we won’t connect. If we don’t prepare our hearts before church, we won’t get much out of it. IF we don’t sleep well the night before, we may fall asleep. If our minds are fixed on something else, we won’t treasure Christ, won’t enjoy church.

Give church a chance. See what you can do to make it resemble what Christ is looking for.

Honor God.