What are some of the most frequently asked questions about the church? - Podcast Episode 163, Part 1

Church Membership Starts With Biblical Soundness and a Healthy Culture

Welcome to the Got Questions podcast. Today, joining me again is Gwen. She's the administrator of compellingtruth .org and also our volunteer services coordinator to make sure all the answers that are sent out are done so in a quality, biblically-based manner.

Also, Nelson, our director of video content. A few episodes ago, we did an episode on what is the church, what is the purpose of the church, so we thought we would continue that today with a little discussion on what are some of the most frequently asked questions about the church.

Consider this our miscellaneous church questions episode. To start off, how about I'll shoot this first question over to you, Gwen. What should I be looking for in a church?

Yeah, first, I think that's a great question. Not every church you walk into is gonna be the same or is gonna be a good fit for you. So I think I first start with the statement of faith. You wanna make sure that the church is really biblically sound, that they truly are a Christian church and that they really value the word.

But I think, too, not just the statement of faith, but what is actually the church culture? Do these people actually really value the word of God? Are they really living as community and loving one another?

So do they preach it and then do they actually live it out? And I look at, too, spiritual nourishment. Like when you go to this church, is it causing you to grow? Is it causing you to be encouraged in your faith, to be challenged in your faith?

Or is it just stagnant? And then I think of having a place to serve. We've talked in past episodes about spiritual gifts and how the church is the body of Christ. So is there a place in this church where you will be able to use your gifts for the benefit of other people?

Other things to consider are your specific family's needs and season and even your passions. So for instance, if you really have a passion for the special needs community, is this a church where you could serve that way?

Or if you have kids who are in elementary school, is this a church that will support you in raising those kids and in discipling them in the Lord? So those are some general things that I would look at.

Nelson, I know that you have counseled a lot of people in searching for churches. What do you suggest people do?

You know, the suggestions you gave are excellent. They're all the right things you should look for. And now with churches online more and more, and even having services online and having their doctrine statements online and things like that, before you even walk in the door, you can often research those things as you look around for a church in your area.

And one thing I would suggest is that wasn't mentioned. Those are all good things that you said, but in addition to that, one, if you have multiple choices that all fit that criteria, you know, is one closer?

Is it easier to get to? I mean, that's a practical thing to know about because if you find a church that's pretty far away from you, you know, half hour, 45 minutes, an hour away or further, it'll be harder for you to get to that church or want to participate in some of the events and the things and small groups and youth groups and whatever they might have.

And a lot of the people that you might enjoy doing those things with will also most likely be that far away too. So even location and how far of a drive it is from you is a consideration. As when people walk in the door to a church, they're looking around and oftentimes, like it or not, they've made their decision about that church within the first few minutes through the environment, through the culture that's in that church and seeing what's available to them right away.

And so for church leaders, you know, you want to be as welcoming as possible to these individuals and you want to put your best foot forward and present exactly what the church is in a very concise, clear way immediately.

A lot of times churches will have what they really care about or are passionate about printed and signage throughout the building and things like that. So if I was a new goer to a church and I was walking into a building, I would look for those types of things.

I would look for, you know, do they proclaim Christ like you mentioned? Is there a place for me to serve and to plug in to right away? Will it fit my family's needs as well? And this is a place where I can grow.

A lot of times you can go to a church and it might be a really fun message, but perhaps a little too watered down for some believers in the sense where maybe they're serving more milk in the sense, biblical speaking, than solid food.

And that's a consideration. You know, is this going to be a place where I can grow? And so I encourage people when they visit to look at all those things, check out all the things on the website, but give the church, you know, a try or two.

You know, don't just make your assessment right away. Go and listen to the sermon and go back again and see if the Lord is truly calling to that place. I think you'll feel a sense of peace once you find that church body that the Lord is calling you to.

Excellent points, both of you. The things that you both mentioned are things that when my wife and I moved to Colorado Springs over 20 years ago, we're trying to find a new church, we were keeping track of these sorts of things.

And me being a technology nerd, I actually had in a spreadsheet where I was keeping all these things and even rating the church on the quality of the preaching, the quality of the worship, were we greeted well, how far away the church was.

So all these things, for me, I need a sort of a mathematical formula. Obviously we're praying, we're seeking the Lord, asking for the Spirit's guidance, but even just remembering, tracking some of these things.

We visited, I think, 20 different churches and it's hard to remember all those things, but we're very happy with how the Lord eventually led us and not that everyone needs to create a spreadsheet, but just remember the things that God's word says the church is to be and to do, and then look for a church that fits those things.

Conflict in the Church Should Be Handled by Matthew 18

But it's not wrong to also look for a church that is a practical match for you and your family as well. So question two, I'm gonna test this one to Nelson. How should conflict in the church be handled?

Well, that never happens, right?

There's never a conflict in the church.

Well, of course there is. There's conflict in our families and there's conflict among our friends. And of course, there's gonna be conflict within the church local assembly as well. And for anyone who thinks otherwise, you're just not being realistic.

I am pastoring and I know a lot of people who immediately leave the church because there's some sort of disagreement or some sort of conflict between either them and another congregant or them and the leadership.

Or they just don't like the way things are being done. And so they just move on quickly instead of addressing the conflict. And so scripture is very clear about what to do in conflict scenarios because scripture talks about all parts of life and it gives us the tools that we need.

And it knows, God knows that these things will creep up. We are sinful human beings in this fallen world. And so we're going to get into these types of conflict but we need to resolve them biblically.

And the passage I always go to is Matthew 18. Very familiar passage for those who understand conflict resolution. It's Matthew 18 verses 15 through 17. And it gives us the step-by-step instructions of how to deal in conflict.

And it mentions in that passage about first addressing it with the individual. And I would say, as we do that we need to prepare our own hearts. We need to think about, is there sin in my own life? Is there something in my life?

Am I contributing to this problem in any way even before I approach that individual about either sin in their life or sin or a conflict in between us? And so we have to check ourselves first, right? And pray to the Lord, ask for a humble heart to see yourself and to see your own sins and see you as you are, as He sees us.

And then humbly approach that individual to bring up that issue. And if they don't respond, the passage of Matthew 18 reminds us then, if they don't respond to clear communication from you that's delivered in a heartfelt, compassionate way that's built around resolve and built around restoration.

If they won't listen, then it asks to bring another believer or two along with you. And this is not about gossip. It's not about ganging up on them. And it's certainly not about proving a point and being right.

It's simply about living our lives in the correct way the Lord calls us to do it. And if there's sin in the body of the church or a conflict in between individuals and between you and someone else you need to resolve these things.

And so we bring in other people, other impartial people not just people on your side not just your buddies or your friends it needs to be other strong believers within that church body who know both of you and can be impartial on the matter and they should be consulted.

And if they also see the sin or the issue that you're talking about you together can approach that individual and try to work things out. And hopefully at that stage it's done and it's taken care of and forgiveness is offered and love and restoration is all granted and is there and you move on.

But if the sin is still continuing that conflict is still not resolved and we're called to escalate that even more. And this calls for bringing in the leadership of the church and ultimately the entire church to now we've identified a sin.

We've identified a individual who will not repent of that sin. And it's very clear that it is sin. And once the church gets involved they can decide to enact church discipline or how they might then move on from there with the leadership.

And so conflict resolution and those steps again is to be taken slowly and prayerfully, humbly with all love and compassion casting our pride to the side, evaluating our lives as well and seeing if we're contributing to that problem.

And then asking other believers who are impartial to join in, point to the scriptures and say, this is our conflict. Here is the issue that we're having. Here's the sin. Let's resolve these things so we can get back to worshiping the Lord and be the body of Christ that he's called us to be united together.

Nelson well said, I agree with you entirely that Matthew 18 is the key passage on this. And if Matthew 18 was followed so much damage could be avoided. Also like what you said about we shouldn't be surprised when conflict in the church happens.

I mean, I think it's sad when it happens because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We have the same word that's supposed to be our guide the same Holy Spirit who's dwelling inside of us. So you'd think and you would hope that there'd be more unity, but just remembering as you said, we are still all sinful fallen human beings.

We make mistakes, we commit sins. We make wrong judgments about situations, about people. There's going to be conflict. So we shouldn't be, oh no, there's conflict. What are we supposed to do? It's like the Bible gives us very specific instructions on what to do.

So let's not be so quick to divide. Let's not be so quick to leave a church which can't, we'll be talking about that a little bit more later. Let's seek after unity, seek after restoration following the principles that are in God's word.

The Priesthood of All Believers Gives Direct Access to God

Next question on our list, and I'll actually take this one. Is the priesthood of all believers biblical? And so I'm not gonna go so much in history but this is an issue that really came up during the Protestant Reformation where for centuries the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church built everything around the priesthood that there are the human priests of your local church congregation is the intermediary between you and God.

You can't go to God directly. You have to go through your priest. You have to confess your sins to the priest. You have to do all these things through your priest. The priest is the one who administers the Lord's Supper.

On and on and on.

And it's essentially created a barrier in between believers and God. Well, that's not what the New Testament teaches at all. The part of the passage that speaks most directly to this is in 1 Peter chapter two.

I'm gonna read kind of a summary of verses five through nine. You also as living stones are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Some other translations render it as a kingdom of priests instead of a royal priesthood.

Like we are all priests and since we can all go directly to God. We are intermediaries between a dying world and God. There's nothing and no one we need to go in between us and God. We do not need a priest to interpret scripture for us.

We do not need a priest to do a special ceremony for the Lord's Supper. We don't need a priest to oversee every area of our walk with God. It's between us and God guided by his word which we are all free and welcome and called to read, to study, to interpret and to apply to our lives.

And even in some Protestant evangelical churches, there's a sense in which we view that lead pastor, the teaching pastor is sort of a priest as he's on a whole nother level than we are. That we have to go to him for certain things and while the Bible does teach a healthy respect and submission to our church leaders, they're called pastors, they are our shepherds.

There is a degree of authority and guidance and leading involved in that but they are not someone we have to go through in order to get to God. They do not stand between us and God in any sense. What Jesus did when he tore the temple veil and to gave us direct access to God through him.

So the priesthood of all believers is simply saying that we all have direct access to God through what Jesus did for us and through faith in Christ, our sins are cleansed. We can stand before God. We can bring our requests to him.

We can intercede for others with him. We can have direct communication with him. There's nothing in between us. So that's what the priesthood of all believers is. It's again, a theological concept that became very important during the reformation but it's also important for us to remember because it has very practical impact for us in the church today.

Yeah, it's a great reminder for each of us too to know that we have that direct access to God. And for so long, before that temple curtain was torn, they didn't have access. They needed others to pray for them.

They needed the priests to step in line for them to mediate between them and God. And the reality of our situation now that we can talk directly to God is humbling and it's amazing and it's incredible.

It doesn't take away from the roles that there are at churches with deacons and elders and pastors. Those are all roles with responsibilities and tasks involved, callings. But yeah, having that direct access to God, each individual, what an incredible thing that is.

Well, I love what you pointed out too of how we also help mediate between a fallen world and God. I mean, it's that whole being ambassadors of Christ is part of. Like, not only are we reconciled to God and we get to have that direct access, but we get to help show other people that they can have the same.

Absolutely.

Why Christians Should Not Neglect Gathering Together

So Gwen, next question for you. Why is church attendance important? Or put another way, why should I go to church?

Oh, there are so many reasons. And one actually, Hebrews 10, 24 through 25 is kind of like the quintessential verse on this. But actually, if we back it up a little bit, it kind of goes in line with our priesthood of believers discussion.

So I'm just gonna start from verse 19. This is from the ESV.

It says,.

"'Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence "'to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, "'by the new and living way that he opened for us "'through the curtain, that is through his flesh, "'and since we have a great priest over the house of God, "'let us draw near with a true heart "'full of assurance of faith, "'with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience "'and our bodies washed with pure water.

"'Let us hold fast the confession of our hope "'without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. "'And let us consider how to stir up one another "'to love and good works, "'not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, "'but encouraging one another, "'and all the more as you see the day drawing near.'".

So that, you know, like explicitly says, you need to keep gathering together and it's for encouragement. It's part of holding fast our confession of faith. As Nelson talked about in our last episode, like it's also part of, we live in this rough culture, in this fallen world.

I mean, and the church is our oasis. Like why would we not want to go to get that filling to be with our family members? Acts 2 42 is the other sort of like quintessential church verse. And it says, so this is talking about the early believers, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

And in that we see a lot of the purposes of church attendance. So it's teaching and it's fellowship with one another, breaking of bread that's often thought of as communion and prayer. And then, you know, I think two of the verses that, like all these verses that are instructive to Christians and say you, most of those are letters written to like a church body.

So these are, it's accomplishing the mission together. So kind of to bullet point it, here are some purposes of why, like some reasons why you should attend church. So it's for corporate worship as the people of God, which as we talked about in the last episode is something we just see throughout the Bible.

Like Old Testament believers did this. It happens in Revelation. I mean, we also see it happen like in heaven. So there's just this sense of coming together to worship God is meaningful and important.

There's prayer, praying together, praying for one another. There's teaching. And I think this is the one that we primarily think of as church. And it's like, obviously it's a huge and important part because we need to know the truth of God's word and understand like who, we understand who he is by that.

And then also understand who we are and how we are to live. And I think this is also the one that people bump into when they think, well, I don't really need to go to church. I can just listen to a sermon online.

But there's a distinct difference when you're actually with a community of people and when the person who is teaching you is part of your community and is a shepherd over this flock. Like I think of first Peter five and the instructions for those elders, or just thinking of local church pastors, they have been entrusted with those people and to shepherd those people.

So not like the interpretation of God's word is any different, but it is still like, they are there to help you. Whereas a sermon that you listen to from like 10 years ago or two countries over is not really directed to you.

So I think that's important. And it's also the local churches where we interact with other believers. So like not only do we receive teaching, but we live it out together and we discuss it together and come to understand it together.

So there's that like, it's not just you watching something or listening to something. Those can be great add-ons, but that purpose of the church is still very much needed in the local context. And I think too of the local church being an important place for discipleship and mentorship.

Like we see Paul instructing Timothy, what you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach also. That's in 2 Timothy 2 .2. Or I forget where it is, but those instructions for like older women to teach and mentor younger women or Paul in Philippians says, you've seen me set the example, follow it out.

So like that happens in the context of a relationship with real people. And therefore you need to go to church to be with those people. I also think of the structure of the local church being important and helpful in meeting needs.

Cause I think that's another thing. Sometimes people are like, well, my Christian friends, you know, like that's pretty much church, but there's no like authority structure there. There's no, there's also not a bigger support structure.

So like, if you have a crisis, hopefully your friends help. But like, if you're thinking about the bigger local church, that can be so much more helpful. And I think too, that's the same of accomplishing the mission that Jesus has given the church in our context.

Like that gathered body of believers can accomplish so much more than like you and your five Christian friends. So like it's important to have Christian friends, but the church does bigger things. And then, you know, and kind of, I alluded to this before of that protection against false teaching.

I think that's a danger when we are not connected with a local church of getting hyper-focused on something or getting led astray. Whereas the local church, you're more likely to get the full counsel of God and like study all of the Bible and also be protected from some of those false teachings that you might otherwise not be aware of.

And I mean, there's also, I'm sure like a ton of other reasons, but those are the main ones that come to mind for me. What about for you guys?

I think I mentioned this in the previous episode, the one and others of scripture, the love one another, encourage one another, spur one another on towards loving good deeds, rebuke one another in love.

There's so many, the required believers being together. I think in the American culture, where for the most part, we are so individualistic. That's why this question even exists. It's like, well, why do I need to go to church when I can study God's word on my own?

It's like, well, yes, there's more to the Christian life than you just reading your Bible on your own, which is a great and fantastic thing that you should be doing. But it's not just even you going to church and sitting next to people, listening to the same sermon and singing the same song.

So church is supposed to, we are the body. We are supposed to be serving alongside one another, we're supposed to be encouraging one another, we're supposed to be teaching one another, just be together, just be with each other.

So it's our whole attitude about the church that even brings this question up, but that's what makes it so important is that so much of the Christian life, so much of what the New Testament epistles teach us where to do, describe people serving God, worshiping God, ministering to others together, and that's what the church is supposed to be.

So clearly, we need people attending church in order for these type of ministries to happen.

But I think you're right to point out that yeah, it's not just attending, it's like be part of a local church, which does involve attending, but it's more than just, like you don't just come in, sit there and leave, like there's more to church than that.

Absolutely.

Yeah, hopefully you're not just going just to sit there and listen, you're going there to make it a priority. And I think some people forget even the example that they're setting for their families, husbands for their wives, wives for the husbands, mom and dad for their kids, by prioritizing this time of togetherness, of worship, of meeting other believers, of looking for needs, of fulfilling those needs by giving, of supporting missionaries as a congregation, by doing projects and things like that that you can't do as an individual.

I love the point you brought up about safeguarding against false teaching. I've seen many small groups go astray because they happen to get onto one specific subject and then they begin to follow some rabbit trails and without proper guidance sometimes, not all the time, but there are times where even a small group can go astray listening to false teachers without them even understanding and knowing that the doctrine or the course of doctrine that they're following is leading down a really dark alley.

And so, yeah, we need that togetherness and Christ called us to it. I mean, do we have any other excuse? Christ called us to the church to be a part of it, to join in with one another. They've been doing it since the beginning and you can see in Acts chapter two, woe is us if we decide on our own to say, I don't need it, I can do this all on my own.

Excellent points, both of you. So this has been part one of our most frequently asked questions about the church. So tune in next time to part two where we'll dive into some of the most, other most frequently asked questions.

So Nelson, Gwen, thank you for joining me and I'll see you on the flip side. This has been the Got Questions podcast. Got questions, the Bible has answers and we'll help you find them.