This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
...plurality of elders, one pastor only, membership requirements, frequency of communion, congregational voting...you know, those kinds of things.
Any and all, except, of course, those that would require us to violate the TOS regarding a certain very large church that starts with a 'C' and ends with a 'C'. And I'm not talking about the Church of Christ.
I'm not so sure the things you've mentioned here are necessarily unscriptural. These things are really more a matter of opinion where scripture leaves no clear answers and, maybe, the choice is actually ours with no preference by God.
This is why I'd actually like to go back to the charismatic church community.
I suggest that thinking that Christians and the church exist solely to evangelize is a misguided church tradition. Making disciples of Christ is more than just birthing them into the kingdom. It also means encouraging them and teaching them and feeding them and growing them up into the image and stature of Christ. Right up to the day they exit the body of flesh. Tradition has taught so many churches that they exist solely for the purpose of getting people saved.
I think of this often when I see how misguided, Spirit-less tradition has robbed the church of the truth and fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Ther is one about 3 miles away that I attended for a while. But sadly the speaking in tongues without translation issue got in the way for me. Especially when one of the pastors made it clears that speaking in tongues was pretty much required if you were anything more than just a baby Christian. I have a hard time with that concept, so I don't go there anymore.
And this is exactly the way the one I recently left says they believe as well. But it's in words only and they do nothing to make this happen. By the time I left all they were having was 1 Sunday morning worship service (where the attendance had dropped to about 1/3 of normal) and a couple of your typical segregated Bible studies during the week that were usually poorly prepared and very elementary in content, and only attended by a small handful of people. Nothing more to help build discipleship at all.
You just described a tradition that has many churches in it's grip. The type of meeting where the meat and potatoes of the Christian life are to be hashed out in open Bible study and discussion and sharing end up being relegated to poorly equipped, extra-curricular, incomplete meetings held at non-traditional times, which because of that makes them entirely optional, and therefore, poorly attended.
Well, like any church, even among the more non-traditional ones you have to discern which ones are handling the truth well, and which one's aren't.
Sadly this seems to be true in the churches I visited or inquired about around here lately. I don't think it's a good reason to not go at all, but I have to admit lately I've given up. This is primarily a rural area with a few small towns dotted around it, so choices are limited compared to the major cities. There is one church in particular with a pastor who is a personal friend of mine, that I think is conducting itself a lot more Biblicaly. I mean, they are even taking in homeless people, feeding them and giving them a roof over their heads despite the fact that they are probably violating several laws by doing this! They are charismatic in that they believe in and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, but they do not abuse gifts like tongues. The pastor is a knowledgeable person who truly studies the scripture and has even published some successful books on it. But it's 25 miles away. When I get involved in a church I need to be a lot more involved than just going one time a week on a Sunday morning, so the distance (cost of driving as well as the time involved) is just too much of a hindrance.
