As we begin our search for a church in the Oxford area, I have some serious questions.
Here are my guiding verses.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:25-27)
How would a visitor measure whether a church is loving?
How would a visitor measure whether a church has a healthy fellowship?
How would a visitor measure whether a church is a praying church?
How would a visitor measure whether a church teaches proper doctrine?
For those of you in ministry, how would you show a visitor that you are striving to be what the church should be.
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3 comments:
You are probably not going to like my answers. But here we go.
"How would a visitor measure whether a church is loving?"
1. Time. Programs may have been started because of love and carried on for any number of reasons. Other church's may not have the programs because they lack the organization, not the love.
It takes time to know the hearts of people. That's the core of this question, right?
I'd suggest interviewing members and staff. Ask them how the church demonstrates its love. That won't tell you everything, but it may give you a peak.
"How would a visitor measure whether a church has a healthy fellowship?"
Time. But interviews could be helpful too. Ask several people who the closest people in their lives are. Where have they gone when trouble has struck? etc...
"How would a visitor measure whether a church is a praying church?"
Time. I can;t think of other suggestions for this.
"How would a visitor measure whether a church teaches proper doctrine?"
Does that visitor have proper doctrine himself?
Time. You'd want a good sample from which to judge something like this.
I'd look at the preacher's library, though. Ask him what he has been reading, what he really likes to read. That won't tell you everything, but it should give you hints.
"For those of you in ministry, how would you show a visitor that you are striving to be what the church should be."
Other than doing the striving, I don't know how to show visitors. I'm not sure even that is what most of the visitors are looking for.
As some one who just went through this a few months ago, I can tell you what Crystal and I did. We looked around for a couple of months, trying to find some place. In the end though, rather than try to find the right fit, we found a church that was in the midst of some pretty big transitions, and needed people to step in and serve.
So while I may not be on board with how the church functions right now, we've been given the opportunity to serve in a lot of areas. Over time, I'm hoping that will allow us to share some of what's important to us, to the rest of the body. And I suppose, they will probably teach us a few things to.
Thanks for the thoughts. They are more helpful than you probably think they are.
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