don't join a local church?

Do you need to regularly attend a local church?  Is it needed to be part of God's family?  And if you do, does it need to be one single congregation?

Is it inappropriate to visit various church locations without settling down, without becoming a signed member?

Why is it important to join one particular local church to the exclusion of all others?

Is it to gain consistent preaching from a single person (pastor or priest)?  Are they the mouthpiece of God and his understanding?  Or, is it to develop relationships among other attendees?

joining a church and understanding God's word

If every local church holds to the same truth, then every preacher will say the same thing, at some time, so it doesn't' matter where you attend.  But, if they are not saying the same thing about topics, or excluding other topics, then we need to take care. We must be responsible and move around, read widely, so as to discover what God is sharing.

Like a human body, was the church designed to exist as a carrier for the mouth?  Is it wise to presume any one person holds all the knowledge of God?  If they can then so be it.  But if not, whether you are at home, a church service, work, school, down the street, wherever you are:

• read the bible yourself
• seek God (prayer) for what he means and what to do with what you discover
• seek to be equipped by apostles, prophets, as well as evangelists, teachers, and pastors (Ephesians 4:11-16)
• encourage people to share their testimonies with one another
• discuss what you learn and consider what others learn (including strangers)
• encourage gifts other than preaching and teaching, as all are equally important for the growth of people and their communities
• ask questions of and for clarity from those who give you information (e.g. pastor/priest)

joining a church and building relationships

Is the body and its gifts limited to a single location?

• Does, or indeed can, every local church, parish, or congregation contain every equipping gift?  What if it is a house church?
• Why do we argue that because "you cannot know every one of God's family, stay put and do what is possible in your chosen local church"?
• Is it even possible to truly know everyone even in a small congregation?
• How could expanding who you interact with help with this and where can you find them?

What makes people one as God the Father and Son are one (John 15)?  Is it being in the same room or something else?  Is it possible to gather but indeed be worlds apart?  Consider your family.  Do you stop being family when individual members go to work and school.  What about when they leave to live elsewhere?

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real love = attending church

The following is a response to a spoken message by Tony Rainbow of Victory Church (Adelaide, Australia) to the people of Fusion City Church (Canberra – Australia)

audio link

 

Topic being shared: Staying the Course

For the most part this message shared was positive.  However, part way through Tony stated:

"a person's church attendance reflects their real relationship with God.  If they are not attending they are reflecting a lack of genuine love for Him." Tony Rainbow, Victory Church, Australia - 27 Nov 2011

Given the information of the rest of the sermon, the context for this is attendance of Sunday church services.

In other words, Tony was suggesting that people who do not regularly attend a church service lack a genuine love for God.  Alternatively, people only really love God if they attend church services, preferably every week.

(This kind of comment is in the same category as those that suggest "Your love for God is measured by the amount of money you give to the church.")

Shortly after Tony stated

"If you hang around (spend time with) people who hate the church or speak against it, then we are going to become like them."  Tony Rainbow, Victory Church, Australia - 27 Nov 2011

Unfortunately the implications of this are:

• No one should speak against anything a church does, even if it does or says something counter to what appears in the Bible
• Decision makers and leaders of churches view themselves as infallible
• Anyone who raises a question of how and why things are done is seen as a hater of the church and indeed the people involved in it

And even if it is possible to ignore these comments, what are the implications for our relationship with God?  Ask yourself:

• Who did God send his son, Jesus, to hang around?  Did he become like them?
• Did he speak against religious attitudes and behaviours or people?
• Who did Jesus send his disciples amongst?
• People who pursue a life that copies Jesus will be hated and persecuted because the world first hated him (John 15:18-27).  Why does Gods warn us about this?  Does it mean we are to run away or persevere?  What does each choice here say about how we view God and Jesus?
• The Bible teaches us that we are not perfect and we make mistakes.  Is this is a reason to limit our relationships to those who agree with us and behave like us (Mt 5:43-48)?
• Consider evangelism.  Who is the audience?  How can discipleship occur if we are not to spend time people who disagree with us?

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