What Are You Looking For?

What Are You Looking For?

Matthew 18:20 NKJV

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

   I want to ask you a question, which assumes you go to church.  If you stay home for whatever reason and never go to church, don’t bother to answer the question - you have bigger problems to worry about.  The question is this:  When you go to church, what are you looking for?

   I want you to really, seriously, honestly answer that question.  Go ahead, now’s a good time.

   I don’t go to a flashy church.  My church does not have an over-the-top worship team.  There are no fancy lights and they don’t wear matching outfits.  Truth be told, they’re not even a particularly good worship team.  But that’s OK, because I don’t go to church to be entertained by the worship team. 

   Our pastor is a good speaker and he preaches the Word of God and does not shy away from Biblical truth.  But he doesn’t wave his arms or dance around or shout or show fancy slideshows during his sermons.  But that’s OK, because I don’t go to church to be entertained by the pastor. 

   I go to hear Biblical teaching and to have fellowship with other Christians.  I consider it essential for my spiritual well-being and growth.  It gives me a chance to worship God and honor Him.  Many places in the Bible instruct us to worship God and church gives me the opportunity to do that with like-minded Christians.  The Bible teaches us that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people.  So when we meet together in worship, He is there whether or not we have a light show and a full band rocking the house.  I am not against music, in fact I love worship music and worship time in church.  But the quality of the music and size of the worship team have no effect on whether or not the Holy Spirit will be present with us during our time together.  He will be there because He’s promised to be.  But do we hear Him?  Are we looking for His presence? 

   The Bible makes it clear that a right relationship with God requires both a "vertical" relationship – a relationship with God, and a “horizontal" relationship – a relationship with other believers.  If you fail in loving other Christians, you will have a problem having a right relationship with God.  One of the weirdest things I see in the church is people who profess love but don’t love others they go to church with.  If we are unwilling to practice love in the church, how do we expect to reach the unsaved with the Gospel? 

   Going to church gives me the opportunity to hear the Word of God preached and taught which increases my faith.  Romans 10:7 tells me, “so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Faith is vital to my spiritual life.  Faith allows me to grasp what God has promised me and without faith I would fail as a Christian. 

   And of course, going to church is showing obedience to God’s Word. 

   Hebrews 10:24&25 NKJV

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

   Going to church is a matter of obeying God's Word.  Supporting other believers is a responsibility charged to every believer. Rejecting church attendance is a rejection of one of the priestly duties of the believer.

   It also provides accountability to spiritual leadership appointed by God in the church.  We're instructed to submit to the authority of spiritual leaders within the guidelines of God's Word.  Hebrews 13:17 "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you"

   This system of accountability is designed by God to protect the church from the attacks of the enemy.  I’m going out on a limb here, but I don’t believe going to the TV church on Sunday morning gives you that kind of protection.  How can you be under the authority of a TV pastor you’ve never met and doesn’t know you?

   Also, it is impossible to be under authority of a pastor if you are one of those who change churches frequently.  I Thessalonians 5:12 gives us the responsibility to know and be familiar with the elders of the church you go to.  I believe if you keep bouncing from pastor to pastor you are leaving yourself open to many problems including confusion and you will be vulnerable to attacks by the enemy. 

   I intend to honor the Lord’s Day and give him some time each week to meet together with a church family and worship God.  I grew up with a mother who believed that her studies showed her that Sunday was the Sabbath and we needed to honor Sunday as the Holy day.  My grandmother, however, spent some time in a Seventh Day Adventist church and had reasons to believe that Saturday was the Sabbath Day, and we should honor God then, but since she attended a church that worshiped on Sundays she would honor Sunday.  I underwent a personal study some time ago and reached conflicting conclusions.  I don’t prefer any day of the week over any other.  I believe that the act of meeting together and worshipping God is the important decision to make, not worrying over which day is more holy than the others. 

   There are many Biblical reasons to go to church and I pray you have found a church family to attend with.  I pray the Lord has directed your steps to find the place you can worship Him and grow together with other believers. 

Stephen Cram                  February 20, 2011               Colossians 2:8