Opus 2013-38: Finding a church, part 1 of 4

How do you pick a church?  Why do you attend where you attend?  Are you happy with your choice? 

Several years ago we thought we had found a church home.  We did not agree with everything that happened or the way it was done, but the preaching was solid and the people were trying to grow in the Lord.  We got involved, accepted responsibility, paid our tithe and tried to become a part of the local body. 

Alas.  We had been uncomfortable with the things being said when we took communion.  We couldn’t put our finger on it but the pastor seemed to be getting a little vague in what was happening.  The final straw was when he invited people who did not yet know Jesus to partake.  After a bit of dialogue with what he was doing we left the church.

The problem was not social or personality.  It was not a subtle difference in denominational understanding of the meaning of communion.  As I told the pastor in a letter, I have taken communion with people in many different denominations.  In fact I would never hesitate to take communion with people in any church except Lutheran and Catholic.  The reason I would not partake with them is because they would consider me unworthy, not because I reject them.

The problem was at the root of what communion was all about.  Communion, from the word itself, means commonality.  It means we are one.  It means we are all part of the body of Christ.  It means we share a common hope and eternity.  If I take communion with someone who rejects who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross, I am willingly joining with the other side.  It is mainly symbolic but symbols lead to realities. 

We looked for a church for years.  We found one that was really solid but from a different tradition than we embraced.  I was almost ready to look into joining but they changed pastors and the new man was so blatant in his Calvinism that I knew I could not take it.  We moved on, not because it was not a good church, but because we would have been divisive.

I finally found a small church that I decided to be a part of.  It was in my tradition.  The pastor was solid.  The music was real music, not just drums and 7/11 songs.  (Those are the songs that have seven words that you sing eleven times.)  They needed the gifts that I had to share.  Is it the perfect church?  Not on your life.  The perfect church does not exist.  This one doesn’t even come close, but it is a place where I can be accountable, serve and grow.

To be continued...

homo unius libri