What is a great church?

[Raven]

6 hours ago, TJGospels said:

Amen brother!

This is exactly the difference between the two churches I attended this weekend!

My "current" church has almost completely avoided discussing controversial real world topics for nearly a year now.

Meanwhile the new church I visited addressed important real world issues head on!

And fundamental to truth speaking is a sense of courage and/or innate sense of righteousness. Which means my "current" church staff lacks these qualities. Very sad to realize this. 

However, also be aware that a church which thrives on issues and agendas only does so to serve its own. Truth has no need for issues or agendas to be more true than it already is. Only worldly humans have issues and agendas to satisfy an internal need to be validated, either as a church or individually. 

[Raven]

Perhaps there is no great church.

Perhaps that is why Christ found all seven churches lacking in one way or another.

If so, do the seven basically represent all churches, even in a small way?

If so, is what is lacking in a church up to the individual to fill in for themselves, while being with that church?

[missmuffet]

1 hour ago, Raven said:

Thank you missmuffet. I have not yet found such a church; though I love to worship God in fellowship (with friends).

Some churches appear to be a great church, but often when speaking to the leader, all sorts of discrepancies surface which irk me. As a result, I am a hermit which goes to an empty church (non-service times) as a place to worship privately.

Fellowship with individuals has been the raven's bread and meat for my faith. I seem to grow from it best.

However, I have been wondering if there really is a great church. Or can a church simply be a small gathering _ which makes it great because it is small.

God is not confined to 4 walls. However you want to Worship the Lord I am sure He is just fine with that. 

[SIC]

These are the things that in my opinion make a church great:

1. Uncompromising exegesis of God's word.

Far too often churches gloss over the difficult parts of God's word

2. A culture that is willing offend people when necessary

If a young person comes in with an unbelieving boyfriend tell them "If you keep treading this path you are going to face some serious trouble later on in life. Being unequally yoked with an unbeliever is a sin". Likewise fornication and divorce. Far too often church leadership tolerates divorce without cause ( only adultery is a valid cause)

3. A church of radical love.

Not the saying nice things kind of 'love'. Love that is actually willing to make little sacrifices for one another.

[Raven]

2 hours ago, Rosie1jack2pauline3 said:

Ive a long way to go then!..🤣

That is humbling. 

[Starise]

I believe the things we choose are a direct reflection on us, of who we are. Some of it can be attributed to individual personal preference that really has nothing to do with a desire to be close to God. Some of it can be attributed to our principles. What shapes our principles? 

We are what we think. We are what we eat. We become the combination of multiple choices made. Our choice in a church or our lack of interest says something about us. In the end we will either compromise through selfish interest or we will be guided by principle. There are so called churches out there that will fit both roles. I ask questions such as what can I do here that would be helpful and maybe more selfishly, what can they do that might help me grow as a believer? Are they biblical? Are they showing forth lives in keeping with the teachings they teach ?

Do we attend because we want to attend ,do we attend because we think we should attend or both?  Is there some urgency in doing a thing out of Christian obligation, or could it be a personal conviction that deep down we know we are supposed to attend? Do we see the need to attend to help our own spiritual health? I think it can be easy to confuse busyness with doing the Lord's work. How can we tell the difference between the two? It is true that people who do the Lord's work are often busy and how can we support one another, encourage one another in this race of life unless we actually see them in a place somewhere? A good church is both a place to serve and a place to be strengthened.

In some locations there is a church on every corner, In other places of the world churches can be tough to come by. Inability to find a church right away isn't necessarily a bad reflection on us.Taking time to make the right choices says something about us. Why are we reluctant if we are? Do we actually enjoy not going to church? If so, why?

God sees the heart. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

 

[TJGospels]

For a variety of reasons, I believe it is naive to try to count on churches as a source of truth telling. Tax exempt status, the politically polarized demographic of most congregations, and perhaps most importantly, the lack of knowledge amongst pastors about world events, and especially about scientific matters.

All too often pastors become the puppets and parrots of media propaganda instead of speaking out against it. 

The best you can hope for is to be reminded of some of the basic truths about standing by your moral convictions through thick and thin to whatever extent you can muster. 2020 to 2022 taught me that extremely few pastors actually live by the principles they teach. Either that, or they were too lazy or dumb to actually inform themselves about the truth of what was actually going on, instead imposing harmful measures on their own congregations instead of standing firm against them.