Christian Living
CHAPTER 2
WHERE SHOULD I GO TO CHURCH?
I can’t stress this enough. This is of paramount importance to any believer. The idea of where should you go to church needs to be determined by what you should look for in whatever church you decide to visit. Probably wherever it is that you have decided to visit usually someone will greet you as you proceed to enter the facility. In some cases there will be literature available for you to take home with you, which will inform you about said church. Most churches will have a service format of music, a financial offering, a message, announcements, closing in prayer, and in some cases to be followed by a place to gather for coffee, tea, and snacks. This is all well and fine.
However, there are some things that you should pay close attention to. A failure to recognize what these things are will severely hamper your Christian walk. Your purpose in going to church shouldn’t just be for it to be a place to socialize. It should be a place where you learn how to become a mature adult in Christ.
Over many years I have attended many churches.
I was initially brought up Catholic. There was definitely an allure to this church. Many of the buildings had an architectural aura all to themselves. The mass even though at that time was in Latin exhibited a kind of ceremonial order. The priests seem to portray that the rituals they were engaged in were necessary in order to please God. The music had a mystical aura to it. There was a place to go if you needed to confess your sins. Certain days of the year were set aside as being vitally important to attend. Everything that was done seemed to have a Godly slant to it. Do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that. If you followed the directives to the best of your ability you were told that you would either go to purgatory and then eventually to heaven or go straight to heaven if your life to God had been exemplary.
As I grew up and was passing through my teenage years I became less and less interested in attending church.
Maybe in part this was because I was like many young men wanting to sow their oats.
Maybe it was also in part because something was missing in this church.
It was not until my twenties that I had a desire to find God. I began by attending many churches in my hometown area not knowing what to look for other than for God himself.
What was it that would convince me that I had found him?
The only thing that I was aware of as a possible answer to this question occurred to me a few years earlier when I was attending a four year liberal arts college. During either my junior or senior year I decided to take an elective course whose intent was to prove that the bible was in error. The professor focused on the life of King Saul, who was Israel’s first king. Apparently there were a few books in the Old Testament that talked about his life and in some cases gave different albeit what appeared to be contradictory information concerning it. The one thing that stood out to me was how God was personal with Saul through various means (e.g. prophets; the on-resting Spirit; the ark of God; the casting of lots; etc.). So my thought was then, as it was when I was attending many different churches, if God was personal with King Saul then, why couldn’t he be personal with me now?
As time passed I found one church where I was given an opportunity to meet this one true personal God for myself.
What was it that caused God to come into my life?
What decisions did I make after this that helped me to understand what this new life in Christ was all about?
So when you are visiting a church assembly what is one of the things that you should be listening for? In most cases this announcement will occur following the teaching or message that was delivered by someone in leadership.
What is this announcement about?
A. The Preaching Of The Gospel
Without the preaching of the Gospel there will be no opportunity for unbelievers to receive the Holy Spirit, and subsequently the assembly will be left trying to serve God in their own energy. This is called religion; trying to please God by what we do in our own power.
Look for someone in leadership who will ask out loud if anyone in the audience would like to begin anew, no matter what sins they have committed in the past, by receiving a new nature. They might ask them to come to the front near where they are or just simply to stay put.
An invitation will be presented for them to repent of their sins to God the Father and believe in Christ.
Some leaders might ask for a showing of hands from anyone who has responded to the gospel. This is usually done so that literature can be given to them at this moment by some of the Church members, who are watching for the raised hands. This literature that is given to them might: contain a form where they can provide personal information; be in the form of materials for them to read; contain a schedule of church events.
If you don’t hear the gospel preached, I would consider attending again because sometimes especially in a small congregation the pastor is aware of the spiritual state of everyone in attendance. You might have been asked by someone in leadership during the worship service if you are a Christian. If everyone is accounted for then there is no need to present the gospel again. If the church is considerable in number, then in all likelihood the gospel will be presented sometime during the worship service. If this never occurs, then this is a red flag.
The next thing to look for is a direct result of the preaching of the gospel. What do you think this is?
B. The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit
If the Gospel has been preached, and responded to, then the Holy Spirit will have come to indwell and give each of the newly converted to the Christian faith at least one gift of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are divine empowerments, extraordinary powers, and a favor which one receives without any merit of their own.
Don’t confuse the gifts of the Holy Spirit with natural talents. Talents are received at birth. They are natural endowments. Gifts are not talents. They are given to each member for the edification of the church. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit these gifts cannot be received.
What is the name for each of these gifts, and in what manner do they provide edification for the church assembly?
The following are the names of the gifts of the Holy Spirit along with their function. Please read about each one and enjoy the divine blessings that are given to the body of Christ.
The Manifestation Gifts
These gifts say something.
●prophecy is not preplanned like teaching. The word can mean: to cause to drop like rain; a divinely inspired and anointed utterance; a supernatural proclamation in a known language; communicating God’s message to strengthen, encourage, and comfort.
One who has this gift has insight, foresight, and acts like watch dogs in the church. They warn of sin or reveal sin. It is the manifestation of the Spirit – not just intellect. Intellect, faith, and will are operative in this gift, but its exercise is not solely intellectually based. It is calling forth words from the Spirit of God.7
Motivational Gifts – What are Spiritual Motivational Gifts?. 24 March 2012
˂http://christianity.about.com/od/holyspirittopicalstudy/a/spiritualgifts_2.htm>
Someone who has this gift might also predict future events. The predicting of future events is a sign that the person has been called to the office gift of prophet. A prophet has the gift of prophecy, but not all who prophecy have the office gift of prophet.
●divers kinds of tongues: speaking in a foreign language that one has not learned, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
●interpretation of tongues: to explain the meaning of the words that were spoken in a foreign tongue into the known language of the hearers.
The Power Gifts
These gifts do something.
●faith: to believe God without doubt…and visualize what God wants to accomplish; confidence in God, by the impulse of His Spirit, that He would enable them to perform any required miracle; a peculiar impulse, … that came upon the apostles when any difficult matter was to be performed, which inwardly assured them that God's power would assist them in the performance of it8.
●healing: the power to heal various kinds of illnesses or diseases.
Healing can come through: a prayer of faith and the laying on of the hands of the elders-Ja. 5:14-15; by speaking a word from the Lord for a specific healing-Acts 3:6; by praying and laying hands on the sick by means of the prompting of the Holy Spirit-Acts 28:8.
●the working of miracles: extraordinary and unusual kinds of miracles.
The Revelation Gifts
These gifts reveal something.
●the word of knowledge: the Holy Spirit transmits His specific knowledge to you on something that you would have no ability or means to be able to know about with your own limited intelligence and knowledge levels.
This can come in the form of: a thought or an impression on your mind; a vision or a picture in your mind’s eye; a scripture either for your-self or when you get a direct Word from the Lord to give to someone else - 2 Kings 20:19.
One example of this is receiving a direct word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit concerning God wanting to heal someone of a specific illness.
Another example is to receive knowledge that your wife/husband has been cheating on you.
And a further example is that God could give us a word of knowledge in recalling a verse of scripture to our mind in response to a prayer request.
●the word of wisdom: supernatural knowledge applied in a godly way; gives you the ability to be able to properly apply the knowledge that you may already have on a particular situation; cannot be gained through study or experience; is a divinely given power to appropriate spiritual intuition in problem solving10.
One example of this is that you have just found out that your spouse has been cheating on you. You will now need God’s wisdom on exactly how to handle this crisis.
Another example is that God gives you wisdom as to how to apply the knowledge that he has given you about a legal dispute.
And a final example could relate to a financial problem that we find our self in and we ask God to give us wisdom as to how to handle it.
●discerning of spirits: that no one is exempted from the scrutiny of others, but that all must be listened to, with this understanding, that their doctrine is, nevertheless, to be subjected to examination11; differentiate the word of God proclaimed by a true prophet from that of a satanic deceiver; that whatever is set forth, the Prophets consider as to it — whether it has proceeded from the Spirit of God12.
Motivational Gifts
These gifts are practical.
●teaches: emphasizes accuracy of words and loves to study; delights in research to validate truth13.
●exhorts: encourages other believers and are motivated by a desire to see people grow and mature in the Lord14.
●gives with simplicity: to impart one’s earthly possessions without seeking any personal or selfish ends; excited to bless others; desires to give in secret.
●he that rules with diligence/governments: are good organizers and finds efficient ways of getting work done. Although they may not seek leadership, they will assume it when no leader is available15.
●shows mercy with cheerfulness: is moved by the Spirit to devote oneself to works of mercy (e.g. caring for the widows, sick, and the poor) with a happy temper.
They sense the joy or distress in other people and are sensitive to feelings and needs.
They are motivated by a desire to see people healed of hurts16.
●helps/ministry: meets needs; highly motivated doers; concerned with serving and meeting short term goals; these were the apostles' helpers, the persons who accompanied them, baptizing those who were converted by them, and were sent by them to such places as they could not attend to, being otherwise employed; those who in any way aided or rendered assistance in the church, and may refer to the temporal affairs of the church17.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1 CORINTHIANS 12:8-10
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8
These gifts are usually manifest by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues I have seen be exercised during worship service.
I have also seen the gift of knowledge and healing be exercised sometimes during worship service and at other times whenever and wherever God would choose. Some might refer to the unveiling of specific knowledge to someone as the gift of prophesy. I would rather refer to this as the gift of knowledge.
If the gospel is not being preached and there is no evidence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, then you could conclude that the assembly that you are involved in is religious, being void of the Spirit. You might respond by saying that you don’t believe that this is the case because you are a born again believer who happens to attend this assembly.
It appears that in this case the leadership along with most of the church assembly is not born again. There are two directions that you as a believer in this church could pursue.
The first would be to ask the leadership if they would allow for a guest speaker; for someone who along with presenting a message would be allowed to preach the Gospel.
Second, another idea would be to ask the leadership if they would allow for a Christian band to come and play maybe in a concert type format with the hope that the Gospel would be allowed to be presented at some time during the performance.
If neither idea is acceptable then I would highly recommend that you leave the assembly, period, end of story.
Why would you want to be a part of a Spirit-less assembly?
Why wouldn’t you want to be involved in a church where unbelievers are being saved; and where the Holy Spirit’s gifts are being received, recognized, and evidenced to others?
There is probably one more thing that you should consider when visiting a church and trying to determine as to whether you should continue to go there.
C. The Content Of The Teachings
I’m assuming that the Gospel is being preached and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are being evidenced in the church that you are now attending.
The question about remaining in this church is now centered on what is being taught from the pulpit.
In my early years in the ministry I was involved with a church that preached the Gospel and evidenced the gifts of the Spirit, even though there were some teachings which indicated that the gifts of the Spirit were no more. The idea that was being conveyed was that God could work through whosoever by manifesting an expression of the gifts of the Spirit according to his sovereignty. However, the receiving of at least one gift by each member was considered to have ceased.
This church had a worldwide ministry. Affiliate branch ministries would co-labor with one another. Unbelievers were being saved. Classes were made available for those who wanted to obtain a degree in Christian education or leadership. There was a radio ministry; a softball league; musical concerts; week long retreats, etc. However, there was one issue that seemed to continue to create problems in Christian lives, and that had to do with the doctrinal teachings of the church.
Some of the messages that were presented suggested the selling of one’s property (e.g. lands and houses) for the furtherance of the kingdom. Old Testament verses were used to provide a distinct perspective on various New Testament doctrinal teachings. Certain sins that were committed by those in leadership were indicated as being only accountable to God. This is not to say that all of the messages were like this. Believers were encouraged to think about themselves from a divine perspective. Solid teachings on eternal security, redemption, sanctification, the blood, justification, predestination, election, the rapture of the church, the 7 year tribulation, etc. were delivered. However, a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
A court case involving a large sum of money came to the forefront. The church lost the case, and subsequently filed bankruptcy losing ownership of the entire complex. Many of those in leadership, who had been with the ministry almost from its inception had resigned.
As for myself, at this same time I was co-laboring in an affiliate branch ministry having graduated from Bible College a few years earlier, magna cum laude. Around this time the head pastor resigned. The person who took over had decided to make a decision that the branch ministry would operate on its own unaffiliated with the main church headquarters. And besides all this the facility that the branch ministry owned was placed on the real estate market for sale due to unfulfilled financial obligations.
I had a very difficult decision to make. The housing which the branch ministry provided for my family would soon be unavailable due to the eventual sale of the facility. The church headquarters, where I had gone to Bible School, was in the process of liquidating all of its assets and starting over in a different state. I called some of the head pastors that I had become acquainted with over the years to see if there was employment available along with housing provision. Nothing was available which met both criteria. I started to apply for jobs in my area of certification (Bachelor of Science in Mathematics), which I had received when I had attended a four year public college prior to going to Bible College, that were listed in the local newspaper along with sending out resumes to just about every public high school in the state.
Eventually I secured a job in a public high school teaching mathematics. When we packed up and left the church facility and ministry I cried, not making sense of it all. I was in a ministry that I thought I would never leave, and here I was leaving.
No church is perfect. Wherever you decide to attend ask your-self, does God the Holy Spirit show up, and is sin not condoned under certain circumstances?
You are not always going to agree with every message that you hear from the pulpit. Sometimes the protocols that the Jews followed when they were under the Mosaic Law will be the same protocols that you are asked to observe. There will be teachings on certain doctrinal topics where you will find much contention in Christian circles such as (e.g. Can a believer lose their salvation? Is tithing for today? Should the 7th day Sabbath still be observed? Are there apostles in the church today? Is a believer obligated to obey the Ten Commandments? Are the offices of the New Testament church gender specific? Are we commanded to abstain from drinking alcohol? etc.).
If I was in your shoes I would look for five conditions as to whether I would continue to stay in said church.
Is the gospel being preached?
Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit being manifested?
Do the teachings by the leadership help me to recognize and address areas of weakness in my walk with God so that the spiritual qualities (e.g. love, joy, peace) of the Holy Spirit are realized in my life and evidenced to others?
Do the teachings by the leadership of the church not condone sin (e.g. adultery, fornication, stander, lesbianism, homosexuality, lying, cheating, stealing, drug addiction, drunkenness, etc.).
Are the egregious sins committed by those in leadership judged by those in the assembly who are in charge of dealing with such matters?
Now that you are born again, and are beginning to understand what your gift or gifts are of the Holy Spirit, and have begun to be aware of those kinds of teachings that will inhibit your spiritual growth; there will also be some roadblocks along the way that you will encounter that will either cause you to advance or cause you to regress in your walk with God. What these roadblocks are, and how to address them will be what is talked about over the course of the next few chapters.
By James Rondinone
http://makingtheonerightchoice.com
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