Church Shopping is not biblical...

[Derrick Scott III]

From what I can tell, the idea of church shopping (and hopping) is not biblical. It isn't that the idea and/or the action is anti-biblical. It actually is not in there...it didn't exist for the first generations of Christ-followers. The New Testament Church didn't have to deal with the issue of church shopping because for their context, there was only one church...one universal body of believers represented in localized communities. There was fall out, boring sermons, people feeling left out, false doctrine, sexual immorality and all the things that push us to find new churches. But the answer for the early church was not to start going to the new church down the road, because there wasn't one. In many cases, New Testament believers were more concerned with being carried off to prison and being malled by lions than being a part of the most relevant faith community.

If you did start a new church, you started that new church not down the road, but in another city where the gospel wasn't being preached and Christian community wasn't available. And the encouragement of the scriptures, especially Paul's writings, was to focus on unity, like-mindedness, avoiding judgment and not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together.

It seems to me, that Church shopping and hopping is actually a construct of a consumeristic culture...a society that offers Christian options for worship. There are several pros and cons to this development in the Western culture. And I am not making a judgment on that development in this post. But I would advise those who find themselves shopping for a church or hopping from one to another to be careful how they use the scriptures to validate such actions. We have to always be careful how we treat the scriptures in our society...21st century Americans live under an entirely different set of assumptions about the world than the writers of the Bible did.

So, if church shopping and hopping is not necessarily biblical, does that change the conversation that starts, 'what church should I be a part of?

And feel free to post comments and disagreements about this posting...I would be shocked if those reading didn't have an opinion on this subject.

D

[Amanda Joyce]

Reading all the comments so far, I have to say you also have to be careful of escapism. You don't want to continue leaving churches because of problems that you never confront. No place is perfect. Having open dialogue with the leaders and other members does more to solve issues than just leaving. I also believe that the discipling and mentoring need to be a part of the church as well to grow the new leaders rising up. Awesome comments and good topic!

[Michael Anderson]

Thanks buddy well talk more later

[Jennifer Connor]

My church was not my choice. As I "shopped", I didn't know what kind of church, or even what denomination I needed to belong to. I was a new Christian looking for a church with people who were like me, and near where I live because I'm practical, and don't like driving. But I strongly felt that God led me to CrossRoad (not taking no for an answer from me) and has kept me at CrossRoad despite my thoughts of leaving (many times I have failed to get God to find me another church). I think the options need to be run past God first. And I agree you should not be quick to jump/hop to another church. Take the time needed to allow for God's direction.

[Derrick Scott III]

Michael,
To answer your question quickly (cuz it is not a quick answer), I think it means a couple things for those who are serious about seeing one church.

1. Join a Church and stay there...Jesus said that the Kingdom doesn't come with talk. If you believe in one Church, then be the personification of that belief. (again, this is a quick answer). Join a church (faith community), get involved, pay your tithe, support the leadership and stay with it regardless of the fall out and the issues that arise. Let the idea of you leaving that church be the furthest, least possible option. A commitment like that in this culture is harder than I can say, yet speaks volumes about your true belief.

2. Develop a broad theological understanding...you can't speak to the divisions if you don't understand why they exist. If you are serious about entering the conversation, then you'll need to dive into subjects like theology, Church history, ecclesiology and missiology. That breadth of knowledge will inform how you do the next suggestion. If all you wanna do is yell at people who are divided, then get a blog.

3. Be the Church...once you get a deeper Biblical and NT philosophical understanding of what it means to be the church, you can much better discern what it means to be the Church in our day. And as you learn, spend a lot more time being and a lot less time talking. Jesus said, people would see our good deeds (not hear our opinions) and glorify our Father in Heaven (Matt 5).

4. Position yourself...if you want to affect the current conversation in a major way from the inside, consider ordination and/or being a part of the organizations that run church movements. Lots of changes have been made over church history by revolutionaries on the inside. We don't hear about them as much, but they definitely exist and we live in the benefit of their work.

5. Pray hard, pray loud and pray long...because God is already at work unifying, perfecting, and restoring His Body. You wanna know what He is doing and how you can be a part of it...that message is heard the clearest after seasons of intentional prayer.

Hope that helped...ask more questions and make more comments.

[Derrick Scott III]

I don't have any...I don't know of any scriptures that validates the action. Which brings a question...if you can't validate the action by scripture, should you engage in it?

You also have to be careful about that question...I am not a legalist nor do I promote legalism. There are lots of actions we engage in as 21st century Christ-followers that are totally Christian and not clearly outlined in scripture. But we have to be careful with those actions, regularly checking to make sure that we have not used our freedom unwisely or unintentionally conformed to the pattern of the world. This is why I have started the discussion.

I am wondering if unintentionally, we have attached a consumer mentality to the need to find a church. I am not convinced that we are asking the right questions about what a truly effective church is because we are not completely clear as to what the Church is supposed to be. This is just one piece...the early church didn't church shop, so why do we?

Therefore, to answer your question, I don't think anyone could bring a scripture that would support the idea of church shopping and hopping. That vaccum definitely affects if not shapes the way we see church and look for a church to be a part of.

More comments...

[Michael Anderson]

AND the question for this entire if it truly is supposed to be one body !!! how do we get that message out to people who are fighting with other churches becuz of random point s of view?

[Michael Anderson]

Oh sorry on that :" it didn't exist for the first generations of Christ-followers. The New Testament Church didn't have to deal with the issue of church shopping because for their context, there was only one church...one universal body of believers represented in localized communities. There was fall out, boring sermons, people feeling left out, false doctrine, sexual immorality and all the things that push us to find new churches. But the answer for the early church was not to start going to the new church down the road, because there wasn't one. In many cases, New Testament were more concerned with being carried off to prison and being malled by lions than being a part of the most relevant faith community." it was the part about one body

[Kelsey Linduff]

What scriptures are you referring to that people have used to defend or validate Church shopping/hopping?

[Michael Anderson]

I love you man !!!! Good words!!!! Philippians 1:27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel