The Porpoise

Question #1: Why did the dolphin cross the road? .....to get to the other tide!

Question #2: What is the purpose of the church? Seems like an important question to ask when seeking out a church. The harder question comes when asking if the church is carrying out it's purposes. Then comes the even harder question of asking if a church's methods of carrying out it's purpose are good, not so good, or if there's a better way.

A description of the purpose of a church sounds like a good place to start. Rather than till plowed ground, here is a sample summary I found through a wonderfully convenient internet search tool you may have heard of called Google: http://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-church.html (See for some scriptural references also)

This is probably not a complete list, so feel free to help me out with what I'm missing.

From Acts 2:42 and other scriptures the believers met together for:

1) teaching biblical doctrine

2) providing a place of fellowship and encouragement for believers

3) observing the Lord’s supper

4) praying

5) corporate worship

6)A group of believers also has the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ through word and action and to minister to those in need.

When a church (group of believers) meets together, what should it's purpose be? Knowing that there is disagreement on this subject, I have come to the conclusion that #1-5 should be the focus of believers for a regular corporate meeting together, and that #6 is a natural expression to the world and how a believer responds to the grace of Jesus Christ in their day to day encounters with the world. The thought of organizing the regular gathering of believers around #6 and neglecting any of #1-5 I feel stifles being "the body" that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12. I'm not saying that #6 can't happen or a gathering of believers can't focus on #6 on occasion, but rather I'm speaking directly about the focus or the priority of the church gathering together in a normal meeting.

A gathering of a group of believers, or a church service, or whatever you want to call it should have one goal in mind, and that is Jesus. When the 1st century believers gathered together, it was about Jesus. While I nor anyone I know sat in a gathering of 1st century believers, one can pick up on verses in the New Testament that hit on certain undertones of what it might be like. My picture of a 1st century church meeting is that of the believers spending time remembering Christ and His sacrifice, and teaching each other with Scripture and personal experience of what He had taught them, and worshiping the Savior through hymns and spiritual songs, and spurring each other on to become more like Christ, and encouraging one another to endure trials, and praying, and being anxious together of awaiting His return, and the list could go on and on. That pretty much sums up #1-5, and #6 doesn't seem to be involved or a priority of the church meeting but rather something that flowed out of a life focused on Christ.

If #1-5 are about Christ, then any nonbeliever that comes into the church service should get a vision and a picture for who Christ is and the passion for Him by the believers of the church. As an example, in 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 (read the whole chapter for context), Paul stresses that prophesy is for believers and speaking in tongues is a sign for unbelievers. When in a church gathering and everyone is prophesying and ministering to believers, Paul describes an unbeliever coming in and "he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" Proclaiming the gospel of Christ and evangelizing in a church gathering can still happen, and nonbelievers can be a part of the church gathering, but the focus or priority of the meeting should not be about the nonbeliever. It should be about worshiping Jesus Christ and equipping, encouraging, and edifying the believer to become more and more like our Savior.

Now there is a sometimes difficult balance between #1-5, and #6 for a church. A group of believers can meet together for #1-5 and devote their entire time to ministering to those inside the body and completely neglect #6, reaching the lost and ministering to those in need. The church becomes 'inward focused'. A church should never lose sight of being a light in a dark world and sharing the good news of salvation through Jesus. A focus on #6 should also be a priority of a group of believers for Christ, but it should not be the primary focus when gathering together. It should rather be a natural response and desire of the believer to minister to the lost and to tell others about the hope in Christ.

With these thoughts I have established for myself a base or a ground in looking for a church that is following it's functions. If a church is not intent on worshiping God, equipping and edifying believers in their church gatherings, and are just as intent on sharing the love of Christ to nonbelievers through evangelism and ministry, then it is not for me or my family.

All this generic church discussion above doesn't fully capture my thoughts though, so soon I'd love to get into the trenches and practicality of a church gathering. I want to tackle those deeper, more personal, and more specific questions of if a church's methods of carrying out it's purpose are good, not so good, or if there's a better way.

I leave you till next time with this thought.

With minor variations and rearrangements, the model of a weekly protestant church gathering is:

-Greeting

-Prayer or Scripture Reading
-Song Service

-Announcements

-Offering

-Sermon

-Benediction

Let's make it personal. In each of these parts of your own church service, which ones are solely about worshiping our Lord and equipping, encouraging, and edifying believers? Do these individual parts of the service accomplish what they are meant to accomplish? Is there a better way? These are the questions that have been tugging at my heart and mind.

Severe Brain Storm Warning

So many thoughts have gone in and out of my head about church these last couple of months. I've dizzied myself to the point of not being able to focus on what really matters, and have come full circle back to just wanting to follow my love and Savior Jesus Christ by loving and serving others in whatever manner suits my God. Currently I am patiently awaiting the prompting of the only One that matters, but have not been doing a very good job at it.

I've wanted to overflow all of my thoughts about the best methods and purposes of the church out into writing on this blog but have refrained thus far for it begging the question, "what purpose would it serve?" Why run the risk of stepping on friends and family's toes or for being labeled a rebellious misfit for questioning the practices of the church or asking if there's a better way? So what if there is a better way to carry out being the Bride of Christ, the church? No church is perfect and there are still numerous ways God is working in the traditional protestant church regardless of particular methods. Most importantly I've asked myself, "Am I reaching people without the hope of Christ if I'm consumed with the methods inside a church?"

All this and my mind still can't put to rest the thoughts and question of "Is there a better way?"

Flavor of the Week

There is no perfect church.

Churches are filled with imperfect sinners like me who thankfully have been redeemed by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. With that mentality I am going in looking for a church, which is as much a blessing in disguise as it is a frustrating process.

In my recent quest I have been able to really take a unique look at the different methods, functionality, and doctrines that exist in some of the church branches. It has really helped me step out and open my eyes to the bigger picture of what comprises Christian churches in the United States. It has also been a very frustrating process because I feel like I am forced to compromise either on method or doctrine which I’ll explain better later, but I am trying to find a balance where my family can serve, worship, and be equipped.

I can see how people who don't believe in Christ could become completely confused about why there are so many churches and so many different denominations. It is not uncommon in Wichita to have 5-10 churches within a one mile radius of each other. It’s almost as bad as Starbucks in Seattle. It’s the Bible belt at it’s best, only in Wichita it seems extra notches have been cut into it at the end to try and fit everyone in. From the outside looking in one has to step back and wonder why so many churches exist and laugh at the absurdity of it all. The American Religious Identification Survey for 2008 shows a breakdown of some of the denominations Americans claim and I have included some of them here:
Religious Tradition...........Estimate.............. Percentage
Catholic............................ 57,199,000................. 25.1%
Baptist..............................36,148,000................. 15.8%
Christian Unspecified............16,834,000.................. 7.4%
Methodist.........................11,366,000................. 5.0%
Lutheran........................... 8,674,000................. 3.8%
Non-Denom. Christian.......... 8,032,000.................. 3.5%
Pentecostal....................... 7,948,000.................. 3.5%
Presbyterian.................... 4,723,000.................. 2.1%
Espiscopalian/Anglican........ 2,405,000.....................1.1%
None/No Religion............ 34,189,000................. 15%

Interesting eh? I don’t include this as a popularity contest so you can find your affiliation and compare yourself to others, but I wanted to show you how Americans align themselves. See here for more interesting demographic information in the 2008 ARIS survey: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/documents/aris030609.pdf?sid=ST2009030900856

Each of these traditions varies widely in doctrine and method. In my search of what the church, the bride of Christ, should look like and be, I often wonder to myself and to God about how we came to so many different views when we have one Lord and Maker of all things, who has the same purpose for everyone. Why so much confusion on Truth and the way we are supposed to relate to God and others? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, for even when the New Testament church began in the first century there existed many divides, doctrinal issues, and different methods for having church. The Jews wanted to make the Gentiles follow the Law, the Gnostics sought to distort the gospel with false teaching, and each church had their own cultural nuances with which to address. God says we will find Him if we seek Him with all our heart. As believers in Christ, we all have one Spirit who works in us, and we have answers provided to us in His written Word.
I firmly believe that the Bible was written by men who were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit and that it has survived many generations to provide us with Truth. This includes truth of how a church is to function. If one follows scripture as their source for what to believe and how to relate to God and to their neighbor, then there is an objective truth that is not a matter of personal opinion or traditions set up by men. If you look at the divides between the churches in America, it is based on interpretations of scripture, by traditions of men, and in all honesty by personal preference. How to worship, church leadership, gifts of the Spirit, communion, baptism, eternal security, predestination, evangelism, the list could go on and on.

As I have gone in search of a church, I weigh all of these things, and try and test them against my understanding of scripture. To be fair, when reading my insight on churches you should probably know my background so you can fit me in your box and categorize me. I don’t blame you, it’s what I first do too when I find out someone is a believer in Christ. Usually the first question is “where do you go to church?” It helps you to know where they are coming from, and maybe even a little satisfaction of prideful superiority for those intellectuals who know the doctrinal differences between that church and their own beliefs and why they are right or wrong. (My second question usually is, “Do you know the difference between chopped beef and pea soup?” …….. everyone can chop beef, but not everyone can pea soup…..)

I grew up in a Southern Baptist church from age 0 to 14. I am very familiar with terms like revival, backyard bible school, potluck and hymnals. I put my faith in Christ at age 6, and grew up in church listening to bible stories and How Great Thou Art. At age 14 when I was in 8th grade my parents moved churches to an independent Baptist church. I attended through high school there and attribute much of my spiritual growth to that church and the youth group. In college I attended a Christian church, and was deeply involved in a campus group called Christian Campus Fellowship. While it was backed by the Christian church denomination, it was attended by students from widely different church backgrounds. Graduating and moving to Wichita I found my wife playing church volleyball at a large independent Baptist church, and have since in the last four years transitioned from that to a bible study, to a non-denominational church of about 20-30, to a home church of 15 or so, to a medium sized non-denominational community church, to searching for a new church.

I have visited Evangelical Free churches, Baptist churches, Community Churches, Calvary Bible Churches, and non-denominational churches in the 4 years I have been in Wichita. There are doctrinal reasons I have mainly stuck to these which I won’t go into but would be happy to share if asked. The purpose of this blog is to share my experience of the churches I have already attended and will attend in the future as I search for ekklesia, and to hash out what a church should be. I value and want feedback, thoughts, and slaps upside the head when I need it as I share my own thoughts.

May God grant me wisdom, discernment, and most of all a reminder to love God and others, especially His Bride.

Ekklesia

The Greek term ekklesia (ἐκκλησία), literally means a "gathering, selection, or assembly". In the Old Testament, the word ekklesia is employed 96 times to denote the congregation convoked by God, the Children of Israel. The first Christians consciously applied that term to themselves, mostly to emphasize that the Church is the community of those convoked by God and the elected ones.
The word "church" is used as the translation for the 114 occurrences of the term ekklesia in the New Testament. In the New Testament, ekklesia is used to refer either to disciples of a single locality (1 Corinthians 1:2), or to the entire body of believers in Christ (Matthew 16:18).


I'm in search of a local church body, and this is a blog of my journey.