Finding the Perfect Church

[A.W. Bowman]

First, one must recognize that there is no such thing as a perfect church. Furthermore, from examining the New Testament epistles, there was no such thing as a “perfect church” even during the first century. And, as of today, I have yet to identify a single “perfect Christian.” Even among the apostles, sometimes instruction and correction were necessary. For example, see Galatians 2:11-15. Since everything and everyone is flawed to some degree, how do we find an acceptable church community to join and serve?

For those new to Christianity, the answer is both straightforward and challenging. The straightforward answer is to find an experienced elder (a mentor). Ask him/her questions, listen to their answers, and then question their teaching. It may not make much sense right now, but remember that your three highest priorities should be you, your Bible, and the Holy Spirit. The difficult approach is testing your new church, the leadership, and its members to see how biblical truth is understood, taught, and applied closely. This requires a basic understanding of scripture and a mentor’s guidance. This is often referred to as discipleship.

If the church you first attend claims something like, “Only we have/teach the truth”, or “Want to go to heaven, join us”, RUN! If they say something like, “Today we continue our study in the book of Luke”, or “Let us examine what it means to serve Christ”. You may have found a home church.

Continuing: New saints and mature believers. The body of Christ and the Bible are fracturing at a historic rate. Churches are splitting, and new denominations are being formed almost daily. Many pastors lead their congregations away from the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, making disciples not of Jesus, but unto themselves.

We must remember that not everyone will embrace the truth of the word. There will be disagreements and disunity. There will be different understandings among members of the church. Not everyone will be at the same spiritual level of maturity! Therefore, the biblical basics must be clearly taught, understood, and accepted/practiced for true spiritual growth to occur. (Matt 12:18-30)

We must remember that the following list of church failings is not typical of all churches, yet, many of these failings are found across many churches, too many.

Basic questions to evaluate:

Does the church teach the holiness, righteousness, love, justice, forgiveness, and the wrath of God? (2Tim 2:15)

Does the church teach the importance of individual and collective service to the local, national, and international body of Christ, even to the world at large? (Matt 5:16, Eph 2:10)

Does the church offer serious, in-depth Bible studies? (Acts 17:11-12)

Does the church leadership actively encourage the congregation to identify and use/engage their individual spiritual gifts? (1 Corinthians 12, Eph 4:11-12)

What is the role and authority of the church elders? How are they selected, and how long do they serve? Is it based on scriptural principles or modern practices? (1Tim 5:17, Titus 1:5)

How are the church finances managed? Source, expenditure priorities, etc. (Titus 1:5-6)

Does the church teach the true cost of discipleship? (Luke 14:26-33)

Does the church teach warnings concerning false teaching? (Acts 17:11,12; 20:29-31)

Does the church teach and encourage individual Bible study? (2Tim 2:15-16)

What if one cannot find an acceptable church? Search out individuals who live the life of a true seeker of Jesus Christ, and meet with them often. (Heb 10:25)

May your studies be fruitful.

 

[bobinfaith]

Good morning, A.W. Bowman;

Thank you for submitting

Finding the Perfect Church​

I enjoyed reading your thread and a couple of thoughts came to me. Whether we attend a small or medium Church, the imperfections will be more visible. For those who worship in today's mega Churches, the memberships are large but this means more imperfections within and behind the scenes of the Body.

For those who are familiar with the SF Bay Area we served at a Church in Daly City (border of SF.)

In 2022 after serving 11 years in my previous home Church I stepped down and a younger minister succeeded me. My wife and I could have remained or attended another Church in our community and we would have been fine.

But I was asked to preach at a Church in the South Bay (Los Altos, CA) that had dwindled to 9 members. Their former Pastor died of COVID IN 2020. We were called to attend this Church and after 3 years we became members.

The 9 members are middle and senior age with a sprinkle of younger members in their 20s, 30s and early 40s. Without a Pastor there seemed a lack of vision, direction and growing ministries. I would describe this as a "nice neighborhood Church."

Since 2020 and 6 years later the Lord answered our prayers and sent His servant to shepherd our Church. It's official, our new Pastor, his wife and 5 children will relocate from Portland, OR permanently in November 2025, God willing.

He is barely in his mid 30s and what he said to me, "there is a lot of work ahead" in align with what you wrote, A.W.

The 9 members go back to the mid 60s and 70s. Our lone deacon and 4 board of directors are seasoned Christians and through incessant prayer they have stuck to the basic teaching, “Today we continue our study in the book of Luke, (the Gospels) or “Let us examine what it means to serve Christ”. You may have found a home church." Indeed!

We did ask the tough questions in gentle love and a listening ear.

Going forward, an area I must learn, is to be still and discern the prompting of the Holy Spirit, as our new Pastor leads. My wife knows how to be still better than me.

Today our new attendance has grown to 24. We're going through an exciting time at our home Church but there is much work ahead with the goal of bringing one more person to Christ Jesus.

If there is anything I left out in my thoughts please share.

God bless you, A.W.

bobinfaith

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