One Christian Body

I've been searching for the right church, one that follows Biblical principles and also one which has an awesome worship service, as I love singing praise and worship songs. The Bible says, "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Psalm 95:1 KJV)

I love hearing sermons in church, and I have my favourite Pastors, but more than anything it is singing to God which I look forward to. I have attended churches where people sway and dance and lift up their hands and sing boldly. Oh how I enjoyed this worship, as I was one of the enthusiastic worshipers; perhaps a bit too enthusiastic at times! I used to be such a quiet, sedate person! Yet the church I have chosen to attend is one where people stand politely. No hands are usually lifted, though I had a hard time keeping my hands down at the service this weekend just past! It was a wonderful service and during the sermon I found myself praising God spontaneously and silently inside my head. It felt to me as if a light had been switched on within a few people within the congregation, as the Pastor spoke of worship during his sermon, and I think he gave the Bible verse above.

I have attended churches where the service seems forced and cold and where God's presence seems far away, and where people are attending church because this is something they do weekly, not necessarily because they seem to truly want to worship God. Of course, I cannot see inside people's hearts, so the silence may be a facade for a wondrous internal experience with God. I have realised myself that I don't need to lift up my hands to feel God's presence, so it has been really good for me to attend a church where this is not the norm. After all church is not a disco! But still, I enjoy being able to sing in vigorous praise to God. He seems really close when I do this. Yet I know God is always around us, available to us, and if I feel God is far away it is because I am being distant, not because He has left me. He is always there! I feel praise opens up a doorway to Heaven.

What does this tell me? Well, firstly, God can be found in any and every church. I have felt a strong presence of God in most, if not all, of the churches I have attended. And when I say attended, I mean sometimes attending a specific church once or twice only in my search to find what seemed like a church which followed Biblical truth. An analogy would be when I was buying a car and I was not willing to pay money for any of the vehicles I looked at as there was always something small that seemed I could not compromise on. With each car it seemed I had found the right one until I noticed, what was for me, the flaw. Either the colour or the price or the transmission, yet everything else was perfect. If only I could take parts of one car and overlay characteristics of another car; why couldn't there be one that had everything I really wanted! In the end I ended up buying a car, of course, and I had to go with my gut feel as to the one that would work best for me, even though it was not perfect. It was the same in finding a home church. Each time I did some research and found something I disagreed with, which I felt was not Biblical. I was skeptical about some parts of the doctrine of the church I currently attend too, but in spite of my initial misgivings, this is the church I have chosen. I may wander on in my journey sometime, but I feel I am at this church for a reason, maybe to rest in my constant search and to allow God to lead me, instead of always questing to find Him, yet always missing what He is saying as I rush on to investigate the next denomination.

I wish all churches would state that the Bible is their doctrine, and that this forms the basis of their beliefs. I wish all churches would state they are part of one Christian body, and the denomination is secondary. Of course each church will be different and will have different nuances of culture, which some do even within denominations, but I wish we could see ourselves as one global Christian organisation. As an example, I have heard some Christians say the word Catholic as if this is a totally different religion. Yet Catholics follow Jesus! How can they not be Christians! I may not believe in all that a Catholic church says and does, but I cannot say they are not Christians--I feel this is for God to decide. Perhaps some people who attend Catholic churches may say other churches are not truly Christian! I do believe there are churches which might have deception sown into their beliefs, but if all were to say that, first and foremost, the Bible is what matters, then I believe the differences of doctrinal interpretation would not present such a barrier, which they currently may.

Secondly, I disagree with the reasoning where churches tell people to first complete and agree with their own internal course, before obtaining membership in a specific church. The Message Bible says, "For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help." (Romans 14:2-4 MSG) Why not allow all to join, and people who disagree are bound to leave of their own accord? (See related blog article: Culture As a Form of Self Regulating Management) I feel one should allow and encourage robust debate and discussion as this leads to truth.

Thirdly, change can happen. The culture of a church may be largely static, but I have seen that hearts can change and in so doing some practices one may disagree with may change too. God will lead the way. It is not about the building and the coffee and the people, it is about finding God. There may be no perfect church, but in all follow God and set small differences aside. After all, isn't that why churches exist, to glorify God and to allow His Kingdom to spread?