S
There are a lot of people here who aren't involved in corporate fellowship and are not being overseen by an elder.
Some of them think that they will be misled by false teachings if they belong to an organization. I can understand that fear because I joined an organization that taught really bad doctrine as a young Christian. However, Scripture says that the church protects against doctrinal error, not that it is a cause of doctrinal error (Ephesians 4:14-15). Obviously there are bad churches, but if someone is a true child of God, I am pretty confident God is going to lead them out of such bad teaching eventually (John 10:27).
It is clearly taught in Scripture that Christians are to be involved in corporate fellowship, and that the context of this fellowship is face-to-face and involves accountability to church leadership. Those who claim they are mature Christians and are not involved in such a fellowship on a long term basis are deceiving themselves. I can understand that some individuals are homebound or have unique circumstances that don't allow for this, and that there are newer believers who may not have grown to the point where they realize their need for fellowship..however these are exceptions and not the general rule.
By the way, often when I talk to people with unusual doctrine such as sinless perfectionists, one of the first questions I will ask them is if they are in fellowship with a local body of believers and are accountable to church leadership. In probably 80 percent of the cases, they will say no. There's a reason for that. Christians who are in fellowship in sound churches are less likely to hold bad theology. Many of those who hold bad theology are not in fellowship. Part of why they hold bad theology is due to their rejection of the need for instruction..quite often they fancy themselves to be the person who is sent to enlighten the rest of Christianity on some weird theological position, and thus they are unteachable...they are the "enlightened one". This attitude is a reflection of human pride and the vanity of the human mind which wants to think it is more special to God than anyone else.
I also notice that many of the most judgmental and critical individuals are not in active church attendance themselves. While proclaiming their superior righteousness, they are not in fellowship themselves and are being disobedient to God's commands in this regard.
Anyways, I backslid for a number of years, in part due to disillusionment over my church organization, and did not attend services. After I began fellowshipping again faithfully, my level of joy in regards to my salvation improved, as well as God's blessing on my life in terms of understanding Scripture better. I know I was in rebellion and disobedience to God on this point, and that affected a lot of my Christian walk. So, I am not claiming to be without guilt in this issue myself. I realize Christians get disillusioned by bad experiences and have fallen into that myself. At some point, though, we need to quit dwelling on the past and get back into the saddle again. Christian life isn't meant to be lived alone, and while this website is fantastic, it does not meet the criteria of a church fellowship as Scripturally defined.
Here are some important points regarding the necessity of belonging to a sound fellowship:
Here are some good things to look for in a church:
I recommend the book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever. 9Marks ministry focuses on the nine marks of a good church. Reading this book will save you some time, and will help you to understand how to evaluate churches. I am not a member of a 9marks affiliated church (I attend an Evangelical Free Churches of America congregation), but the points he brings out describe the congregation I'm attending. 9Marks ministry has a lot of excellent books on basic Christian topics.
Regarding this topic, another important point is to realize that resistance to authority and the desire for autonomy is part of the flesh and is a manifestation of the sinful nature. What happened in the Garden of Eden? Mankind basically rejected God and his guidance, and decided that he was going to pursue his own way. The result is that sin entered into the world, and our natures became corrupted. The image of God that mankind previously reflected has been shattered. Unconverted mankind has a nature that despises authority and wants to direct his own course in life.
Conversion involves receiving a new nature that wants to obey and please God. However, there is a remnant of the old nature which remains, and part of this old nature continues to cause us to resent authority and God's complete and total rule in our lives. I feel that the issues regarding church attendance largely are due to this rebellious nature that still lingers in our spiritual life. This nature struggles against the new nature.
An additional issue is our vain human mind with its exaggerated sense of self-importance. This contributes to the attitude of independence that those who reject corporate worship have. They consider themselves to be self-sufficient. They may acknowledge their need for God, but they won't acknowledge their need for other Christians or the corporate body. Most Christians know, though, that this is foolish and that we all learn from each other and are energized by people that focus on different areas than we've focused upon. Every Christian can learn and contribute something, despite age, nationality, sex, race, or whatever our individual circumstances are. Thinking that we are self-sufficient is foolish and indicates the spirit of autonomy that is part of the carnal, unconverted nature.
These are some of my thoughts on this issue. With an online fellowship like Christian Chat, I think it would be easy to deceive ourselves into the idea that it's sufficient for our fellowship needs, but it doesn't meet the biblical description of fellowship.
Some of them think that they will be misled by false teachings if they belong to an organization. I can understand that fear because I joined an organization that taught really bad doctrine as a young Christian. However, Scripture says that the church protects against doctrinal error, not that it is a cause of doctrinal error (Ephesians 4:14-15). Obviously there are bad churches, but if someone is a true child of God, I am pretty confident God is going to lead them out of such bad teaching eventually (John 10:27).
It is clearly taught in Scripture that Christians are to be involved in corporate fellowship, and that the context of this fellowship is face-to-face and involves accountability to church leadership. Those who claim they are mature Christians and are not involved in such a fellowship on a long term basis are deceiving themselves. I can understand that some individuals are homebound or have unique circumstances that don't allow for this, and that there are newer believers who may not have grown to the point where they realize their need for fellowship..however these are exceptions and not the general rule.
By the way, often when I talk to people with unusual doctrine such as sinless perfectionists, one of the first questions I will ask them is if they are in fellowship with a local body of believers and are accountable to church leadership. In probably 80 percent of the cases, they will say no. There's a reason for that. Christians who are in fellowship in sound churches are less likely to hold bad theology. Many of those who hold bad theology are not in fellowship. Part of why they hold bad theology is due to their rejection of the need for instruction..quite often they fancy themselves to be the person who is sent to enlighten the rest of Christianity on some weird theological position, and thus they are unteachable...they are the "enlightened one". This attitude is a reflection of human pride and the vanity of the human mind which wants to think it is more special to God than anyone else.
I also notice that many of the most judgmental and critical individuals are not in active church attendance themselves. While proclaiming their superior righteousness, they are not in fellowship themselves and are being disobedient to God's commands in this regard.
Anyways, I backslid for a number of years, in part due to disillusionment over my church organization, and did not attend services. After I began fellowshipping again faithfully, my level of joy in regards to my salvation improved, as well as God's blessing on my life in terms of understanding Scripture better. I know I was in rebellion and disobedience to God on this point, and that affected a lot of my Christian walk. So, I am not claiming to be without guilt in this issue myself. I realize Christians get disillusioned by bad experiences and have fallen into that myself. At some point, though, we need to quit dwelling on the past and get back into the saddle again. Christian life isn't meant to be lived alone, and while this website is fantastic, it does not meet the criteria of a church fellowship as Scripturally defined.
Here are some important points regarding the necessity of belonging to a sound fellowship:
- Regular church attendance is commanded...we are not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25).
- It is God's chosen method for Christian growth and maturity, and believers are not healthy, mature believers unless they are involved in a fellowship (Ephesians 4:11-13). They can squawk all they want, but they can't claim to be mature Christians.
- It is the place where God's word is to be taught (Acts 2:42, Romans 15:14) so that believers won't be led into doctrinal error (Ephesians 4:14)
- It is a place for believers to encourage and strengthen one another (Hebrews 10:25).
- It is a place to minister to those in need and to practice the "one another" verses (James 1:27). Christians are to image, or reflect the character, of God. God is Trinity, which explains his character of love. The three Persons of the Trinity have lived in love since eternity past. We cannot image God fully unless we are involved in community.
- The church is to be the training ground for teaching believers to reach others with the Gospel message (Ephesians 4:12)
- It is a place of prayer (Acts 2:42)
- The church leadership is to shepherd or lead believers (I Peter 5:1-4).
- The church leadership is to discipline believers as needed...for example, the Corinthian man who was having sex with his stepmother was put out of the church. In the realm where one is not involved in a local fellowship, how can such church discipline exist?
- Baptism and communion, which are commandments for Christians, is within the context of the church (Acts 2:42 - breaking of bread is a phrase used in regards to communion as well as eating a meal..in fact the two were combined in the apostolic era often)
Here are some good things to look for in a church:
- Is their message focused on Jesus Christ and him crucified, or is it about some weird theology they hold? If their theology is not Christ-centered, do not become a part of this organization. Listening to some of their messages will give you a clue about that. If they constantly talk about something that is not Christ-focused, whether it be emotional experiences or spiritual manifestations or "the law" (had to throw that one in for my fans), you should see red flags.
- Does their message center upon core Christian teachings? I am unashamedly evangelical when it comes to defining essential Christian doctrine. My list of minimal essential Christian doctrine would include the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Five Solas), the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the bodily resurrection, the virgin birth, the inerrancy of Scripture, original sin, imputed righteousness, justification by faith alone, and the reality of a coming judgment where the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished. In addition, I wouldn't attend a church that doesn't teach eternal security but I realize that many faithful Christians don't hold that position.
- Do they love one another? John 13:34-35 says that this is the sign of a true Christian. Romans 12:10 speaks about this too.
- Are they involved actively in each others' lives? Many fellowships are not involved with each other..they may walk into the same building every week at a certain time, but outside of these meetings they are not involved with each others' lives.
- If you brought a seeker to the congregation, would he hear a good message concerning the gospel? Would it be a healthy environment where he is going to be disciple properly if he becomes a Christian? These are important questions. Regarding the gospel, if you don't understand the elements of the gospel very well, I would recommend the book What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. This book is about $12 new so it is cheap enough to give to seekers in your life...perhaps as a Christmas gift.
- Does the organization have bad theology? Look at the church's website and read their belief statement. Find out what organization they belong to, and do some google searches to make sure they are not associated with a cultic movement.
- Get to know the pastor and ask yourself if you can trust him to treat you fairly if he needed to exercise church discipline. I am confident that my pastor would treat me fairly if this was needed. I've listened to enough of his messages and seen his behavior toward others to know he can be trusted.
- Is the focus on training you to reach others with the gospel message? Or is it a pray-and-pay situation? See Ephesians 4:12. The purpose of the church is to equip believers for works of service to others. The first church I attended didn't have this focus...it was all about praying and paying tithes so that the church leadership could preach the gospel. The membership was considered incompetent to handle the word of God. Well, they were incompetent because the blind was leading the blind...in a healthy church, though, the members should be reaching out to seekers in one way or another and increasing the kingdom of God (the sphere of God's influence).
- Is God actively speaking through the speakers to you? God uses the ministry to convey instruction to individuals that are His. If you are not experiencing that, then there are two possibilities: one, you aren't spiritually attuned enough to hear the messages that God is conveying, and in this case you need to focus more on spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, meditation, fellowship, service to others, giving, worship and fasting, or two, your church might not be a good place for you to be...ask God to help you figure that one out. With the group I'm involved with now, I know God is using the ministry to instruct me on particular issues in my life.
- Do the church elders have moral integrity? Can the church itself be trusted to use finances appropriately?
- What is their attitude toward other Christian organizations? Do they think that they possess "the Truth" and believe that they are spiritually superior to others? Do they think other Christians are unsaved due to doctrinal differences on peripheral issues? Obviously this is a big warning sign that is indicative of a cultic mentality. Some groups think that the world was just waiting for them to come along to restore true Christianity..run from these groups...they are bad news.
- Is the opposite true? Do they respect other Christians who have a different view on some peripheral issues, such as speaking in tongues or Reformed/Arminian related issues? The church I'm attending actually prays for other Christian fellowships and their specific needs in their community. There is a lack of a competitive spirit.
- Are they reaching out to others with regards to missions? Missions can be as simple as local jail ministry or local community service, or they can be more complex such as visiting other countries and funding orphanages.
I recommend the book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever. 9Marks ministry focuses on the nine marks of a good church. Reading this book will save you some time, and will help you to understand how to evaluate churches. I am not a member of a 9marks affiliated church (I attend an Evangelical Free Churches of America congregation), but the points he brings out describe the congregation I'm attending. 9Marks ministry has a lot of excellent books on basic Christian topics.
Regarding this topic, another important point is to realize that resistance to authority and the desire for autonomy is part of the flesh and is a manifestation of the sinful nature. What happened in the Garden of Eden? Mankind basically rejected God and his guidance, and decided that he was going to pursue his own way. The result is that sin entered into the world, and our natures became corrupted. The image of God that mankind previously reflected has been shattered. Unconverted mankind has a nature that despises authority and wants to direct his own course in life.
Conversion involves receiving a new nature that wants to obey and please God. However, there is a remnant of the old nature which remains, and part of this old nature continues to cause us to resent authority and God's complete and total rule in our lives. I feel that the issues regarding church attendance largely are due to this rebellious nature that still lingers in our spiritual life. This nature struggles against the new nature.
An additional issue is our vain human mind with its exaggerated sense of self-importance. This contributes to the attitude of independence that those who reject corporate worship have. They consider themselves to be self-sufficient. They may acknowledge their need for God, but they won't acknowledge their need for other Christians or the corporate body. Most Christians know, though, that this is foolish and that we all learn from each other and are energized by people that focus on different areas than we've focused upon. Every Christian can learn and contribute something, despite age, nationality, sex, race, or whatever our individual circumstances are. Thinking that we are self-sufficient is foolish and indicates the spirit of autonomy that is part of the carnal, unconverted nature.
These are some of my thoughts on this issue. With an online fellowship like Christian Chat, I think it would be easy to deceive ourselves into the idea that it's sufficient for our fellowship needs, but it doesn't meet the biblical description of fellowship.
