Finding a New Church (Part Two)

In my last post, I spent a good amount of space discussing the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments, which I take to be marks of a true Christian church. I explained that while my views on these marks tend to favor Reformed churches, I believe that many non-Reformed churches – including many Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, and Baptist churches – exhibit these marks. I also explained that while I believe that church discipline is important, I myself would not go so far as to claim that it is a mark of a true Christian church.

Are there any other marks of a true church? The Westminster Confession (25:4) suggests that true worship is a mark of a true church, and I strongly agree with the authors of the Westminster Confession on this point. However, I also think that the mark of true worship is largely redundant in practice, as I doubt that one could find many churches that offer true preaching of the word and true administration of the sacraments while failing to engage in true worship. I do not mean to be cavalier – worship of God is incredibly important, and any church that did not truly worship God would be a false church, or at least an extremely flawed one. But again, I would expect to find true worship at any church that exhibited the two marks of a true church that I have already discussed.

What about other marks? Here I think that it is important to consider the various tasks that God has assigned the universal church. God has called the universal church to witness to the faith through confessing and teaching – to evangelize the dechurched and the unchurched. He has also called the universal church to instruct those who have already come to faith, and I believe that He has called it to do this not just through the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments, but through other means as well. Finally, God has called the universal church to witness to the faith through love, sacrifice, and suffering. So, are these marks of a true church? Should we say that any church that fails to engage in evangelism, or in teaching its members outside of Sunday worship, is a false church? I am inclined to answer this question negatively – while I think that any church that fails to do these things is deeply flawed, I don’t think that it should be judged a false church. And I would say the same thing about the other tasks that God has set the universal church – a congregation that fails to love, sacrifice, and suffer in any real way is seriously flawed, but I would not want to say that it is a false church. Regardless, failure to engage with these tasks is deeply problematic, and I would definitely prefer to attend a church that was somehow engaged in both evangelizing non-believers and instructing believers, and the same goes for loving, sacrificing, and suffering. A small church may not be able to support a missionary or recruit a squad of volunteers to prepare meals at a local soup kitchen on a regular basis. That is quite understandable. But every church should eagerly seek to fulfill the tasks that God has appointed the universal church, and I expect nothing less from any church that I join.

I feel that I should add at this point that while I have indicated a strong preference for the Reformed tradition, I think that many Reformed churches have greatly neglected evangelization and service, and that many non-Reformed churches have quite strong records in these areas.

Ok, I just indicated a number of qualities that, while they are not marks of a true Christian church on my view, are nonetheless features that I would like to see in any church that I join. But not all churches are equally good at evangelizing non-believers, teaching their own believers, serving, etc., and in fact I doubt that any church is equally good at all these things. So, how can one use these criteria as guidelines in finding a new church? Once again, this is a difficult question, but I think that Paul would ask us to consider our spiritual gifts, and to discern prayerfully how exactly we might use our spiritual gifts at any local church to contribute to the tasks of the universal church. In doing so, we will probably need to talk with the pastor. If we strongly feel that we have a certain spiritual gift, or a set of such gifts, then we should probably expect to use these gifts at any church that we join, even if only in a small way. I don’t feel that I should treat this piece of advice as a law never to be broken, and I certainly wouldn’t want to tell other people how they should think about this question; but, for the present at least, I feel that God is leading Jill and me to consider our spiritual gifts carefully and to expect to use these gifts in some way at whatever church we finally decide to join. As I have already said, I am in no position to set down firm, unbending rules for myself in this area, but I think that many other Christians would probably profit from considering how their spiritual gifts might contribute to the tasks of the universal church when searching for a new church to join. Actually, my modesty is probably unwarranted here, for what I am saying is nothing new, but merely common sense. I would urge that we shouldn’t try to find a new church through the application of a mechanical method, and that we should consult God in prayer at every step, but that too is common sense, and it is also taken straight from the pages of Scripture.

Alright, let’s take stock. I have discussed two marks of a true church and several other criteria that are non-negotiable for me in a church. Is there anything to add? I think so. In the interest of brevity, I will try to cover these next points quickly. In searching for a new church, I haven’t just been looking for a church that has the two marks and meets the other criteria that I mentioned above – I have also been looking for a church that has great (not just true) preaching, excellent music, and a fairly complex liturgy. I have also been looking for a church where I feel that I fit in with the other members. Some of these things are more important than others. My previous church in Chicago, Covenant Presbyterian, had the best preaching and music that I have ever heard at a church. I am not likely to find its equal again, and that is perfectly alright. I would prefer exceptional preaching and music, of course, but neither is essential. And I have heard some great preaching in Raleigh, though not really much good music. Liturgy is important to me – I strongly prefer that my Sunday worship experience include confession and assurance, multiple readings from Scripture, theologically informed hymns, and weekly or bi-weekly celebration of the Lord’s supper, as I think that these are great aids to formation, worship, and Christian living. But none of these is essential, and I could see myself at a church whose liturgy didn’t contain any of these features. What about fitting in? This is tricky. It is easy to place too much or too little importance on fitting in with the other members of the congregation. I think that one must judge this issue with special care (in consultation with the Lord, of course).

I have now reached the end of my list – I have no more marks or criteria to discuss. I feel that the Lord has been leading Jill and me to consider these marks and criteria in searching for a new church, and for us to apply these marks and criteria in the way I have described. When I wrote my first post on this subject earlier this week, I thought that none of the churches that Jill and I have visited so far in Raleigh seemed like a good fit for us. But I think that I was wrong about this - I believe that a few of the churches we have visited may be good for us after all, and that we need to pray more about the nature of our spiritual gifts, and also to pray about how we might be able to use our spiritual gifts at these churches. And we should probably pray about whether there might be ways for us to serve that wouldn’t make use of our spiritual gifts. Blogging about this process has been very helpful, and I feel that the Lord has used it to help clarify my thinking about it. But there is still so much to do! Well, enough for now. Praise be to God and to His Holy Name, forever and ever. Amen.