Thursday, July 9, 2009

Picking A Local Church

Not all local churches are the same. There are good ones and there are bad ones. And you have to be able to tell the difference. If you become involved in a bad church that preaches a distorted Gospel, you could be deceived, or at best, spin your wheels in a cause that is more dangerous than useless.

So, how do you pick? Local churches are as thick as fleas on a dog. They are all different to one degree or another. Some are bigger and some are smaller. Some are friendly and some are not. Some have upbeat music while some rely on traditional hymns. But what is most important? What really makes a good church?

This is the key element. There are local churches that lead people to God for salvation and teach His Word; and there there are local churches that will deceive you, teaching false ways to God that only lead to hell teaching the opinions of men instead of the Word of God. This is the single most important element. Is the local church true and faithful to the Word of God or are they not?

As for me, I have chosen to be a part of an Independent Bible Church. That's the territory I have staked out as a pastor. But what kind of a church is that? What does Independent mean? Does it mean that we can't get along with anyone else? Does it mean that we won't fellowship or cooperate with other churches - that we are as independent as a hog on ice? Not at all. It simply means we are free from outside control.

No denomination controls the affairs of our church. We are self governing, and we believe that was how the early church functioned in the book of Acts. Like them, we choose our own officers and call our own pastor. We own our own building. We make our own decisions, following the leading of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Word, of course.

But we also feel it was the responsibility of the local church to preserve sound doctrine. In 1st Timothy 3:15, Paul writes, "But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, the pillar and the ground of truth." That's the local church. It is the pillar and the ground of the truth. In His letters to the seven churches, Jesus wrote condemnation to the church in Pergamus because they tolerated false doctrines within their midst. Revelation 2:14-16 says,
"But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth."
Jesus will judge us as a church based on our adherence to sound doctrine.

The early church was autonomous. Modern churches need to be autonomous. Jesus is our head and we follow His Word for our direction. To be independent means we have to rely on the Lord, not some outside organization. This should drive us to our knees in prayer.

But we are also a Bible Church. That means we are centered on the Word of God. The Bible and the Bible alone is our authority. We don't follow some man. We don't follow some creed or doctrinal statement. We follow the Bible to the best of our abilities. We do this because we believe the Bible is sufficient. In 2nd Timothy 3:15 it says: "And the from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." The Scriptures are necessary to learn the way of salvation. Then it continues in 2nd Timothy 3:16-17, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." If that's what the Word of God does, what more do we need?

Yes, there are good creeds and good catechisms. We can use them. They can help us succinctly crystallize and explain the doctrines of the Bible. But they don't contain all the Word of God, so they aren't sufficient. There are good traditions that we can follow, but they never super cede the Word of God. This is why we are a Bible Church, and this is why we teach and preach the Word of God in all of our services.

If you attend our services, you really ought to bring your Bible because that is what we use every time - every week. Every week, week after week, you are going to find me standing in the pulpit teaching the Word. There really isn't much variety. I've heard of churches that week after week continually have a variety act. They feature a Christian rock concert one week, then a Christian karate expert the next week giving his testimony and breaking boards. They have all kinds of acts to keep people's attention. I guess the make-believers need that. But hopefully, you don't need a juggler or a dancing pony to make church entertaining. Hopefully, you attend because you take the Word of God seriously and want to learn what God has to say.

Here you just get the word, straight and unvarnished. We believe it is the most important element of our worship. As we study the Words of Scripture, the Word comes alive in our hearts. It purifies us, prunes away the dead wood. It washes us clean. It is our daily food - our milk and meat. It is what causes us to grow into spiritual maturity and holiness. The Word convicts and challenges us. It continually shows us new ways to worship God. What could be more exciting than that?

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