Will The Real Church Please Act Like It?!

I am perplexed by the vast and overwhelming number of organizations who call themselves churches.  It really is astonishing when you stop and think about it.  I mean, it’s like every group or gathering of people who get together on Sundays and have a program which includes singing songs, listening to someone speak, bowing their heads, standing, sitting, raising their hands, weaving back and forth, and even kneeling at the appropriate times, and who do it with a Bible or electronic device in one hand and a cup of coffee and/or donut in the other are calling themselves churches.  Worse yet, they are advertising themselves as such to other people who, not knowing any better, come along for the ride, never realizing that the road they’re on leads to hell.
 

 

So……does this mean that I think churches that serve coffee and donuts aren’t churches and in fact are leading the people who go there into eternal damnation?  No.  That’s not what I mean at all.  What I mean is—is that just because a group calls themselves a church that does not make them a church any more than calling yourself a Christian makes you one.

 

To be a church the group of people must be members of “the church”, that is, the blood bought, chosen from eternity, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, faith exercising, repentance pursuing, declared righteous, saved from the wrath of God, sin forgiven, Jesus loving, and in the process of being made holy—bride of Christ.  Anything less than this isn’t a church but perhaps, at best, just a nice group of people meeting in a nice building listening to a nice man or woman giving inspirational talks, with a nice parking lot, with some really fun activities for the kids, with all kinds of committees making all kinds of plans, and with no idea that they’re all not only guilty of identity theft—they are all, even more alarmingly, still guilty of their sins and thus on their way as a “Christless church” to a Christless eternity in hell.
 

So, how do you know whether you’re in a church or in a group that simply thinks and calls itself a church?   Well, not intending to write a book and willing to be considered too generous by some and not generous enough by others as well as even being willing to be misunderstood as a fanatic or zealot of sorts, let me say, that which, best distinguishes a true church from all those groups pretending to be churches is how important God and His glory is within that body. 
 

Practically speaking, what I mean is this—if your group is so concerned about their finances that they will not pursue financial priorities and decisions which make much of Christ by putting yourselves in a position to obey the Scriptures you’re not acting like a church.  If your leadership is unwilling to confront sin because it is more concerned with peace and not rocking the boat, you’re not behaving like a church.  If your worship services are all about the music, the worship team, the instruments, the sound, the image, the atmosphere, the professionalism, and the appeal to non-believers rather than all about glorifying God—you’re a far cry from how a church worships.  If you’re group has more unbelievers than believers in it because it really is a comfortable place for unbelievers to hang out in while they’re hanging out their sin, it could be because your group is not as concerned with the things of God and in particular the holiness of God and the holiness of those who are called by His Name as they should be.  If your preacher doesn’t teach the Bible, waters it down, neglects to teach the whole counsel of God, minimizes doctrine, excuses sloppy sermon preparation, is unprepared when he comes to the pulpit, and worse yet—is more concerned with his job security than teaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of the Gospel, you’re failing to measure up as a church.  Let me also add, that if your church isn't concerned about genuinely loving people or going out on a limb to meet real pressing needs or taking the Gospel of Jesus, not only to where its never been heard but, also to our neighbors across the street you may have a bit of an identity crisis going on. 
 

Wow…..I could go on and on but this is probably enough to try, convict, and hang me.  But that’s OK because I think Christ’s bride and reminding her that even though she is still in the world she is not of it and must be separate from it is worth whatever criticism I receive for writing this.  Now, I know that none of us as individual believers as well as none of our churches have completely arrived.  We are all works in progress but if you or your “church” aren’t in any way making progress toward becoming what and who God says you should be becoming—I would be concerned.  So, I encourage you to take a good hard look at your church, whether you’re the pastor or a new member, to see if what you are calling your “church” is who Jesus is calling His bride.

“That you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.”  1 Timothy 3:15