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I know how the saying goes, I’ve heard it enough times, “there’s no perfect church,” and you’re right, if there was I wouldn’t be in it and nor would you. But this article is not about addressing the perfectionism of the church by our distorted definition of perfection, what I want to do is help you best make your own assessment of what church should look like by way of Gods standard, that is maturity.
Focusing on understanding what the bible describes as ‘perfection’, aka maturity, I hope to uncover some of the inexcusable harmful practices and thinking, that creep into the church and expose them.
It was autumn of 2018, and I had just started attending a new church, everything seemed great, word orientated, teaching was sound and Christ firmly at the centre of everything they did. It was a small church with around 50 members, the mood of the membership was friendly (in the beginning), always greeted with bright smiles and welcoming faces. There was a seriousness toward the teaching, systematic yet simple, with a line by line and verse by verse approach. There was question and answer sessions once a month where you could put your burning biblical questions to the leadership and get more insight and clarity. Outside the church, my relationship with the pastor and his family was warm and inviting, getting regularly invites to his home for dinner and bbq’s.
Yet with all this it only took around eight months to realise I had been completely blind-sided, what I thought was a safe healthy environment that would facilitate my spiritual growth and be an opportunity to share in unity, was in fact a facade covering a swath of spiritual disease and chaos lurking just beneath the surface.
You get a little glimpse into why there were no obvious signs or alarm bells ringing about the health of this church. It started so well, (maybe too well) everything seemed in order which gave me hope, and sealed my decision to make this church the place I would call my permanent spiritual home. I was fired up and waking up, from the spiritual slumber I had been in for the last few months and was ready to pull my sleeves up and get stuck into the work.
It’s funny when you’re on a mission It’s not always easy to spot the warning signs, but they were there. Here are a few of the problems I identified in my own church that woke me up to the possibility, my church might actually be unhealthy.
- The foundations of some fundamental doctrines were flawed
- They had low view of scripture and no application of scripture
- There was a pragmatic approach to church
- A cautious lack of church ordinances
- No church discipline existed
- There was spiritual disunity
- The leadership were unapproachable and defensive about doctrinal issues
The foundations of fundamental doctrines were flawed:
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when I noticed this one because my pastor would always give a gospel presentation pretty much after every sermon. Whenever it was, it came to my attention that he would never use the word repent instead would say, ‘if you have a change of mind’.
This is, as any avid bible student knows, the exact meaning of the word repent -‘to have a change of mind’, Metanoia in the Greek, so I guess he was simply was giving an exact translation, without adding what the bible says it must be accompanied by, a change of action, which was distinctly missing from his presentation.
It seems so harmless at first, but what makes this such a dangerous missus of scripture is that by omitting it, you omit the essential work of sanctification in the Christian’s life. The believers confession of faith must be accompanied by good works as evidence of transformation and James affirms in 2:2 “Faith without works is dead”. This integral point has massive implications for the believer, you get the message of the Gospel wrong then everything else you build upon it will inevitably be wrong.
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor 3:11
After some extensive conversation with him he did eventually agree that repentance was a part of the gospel message, but that it was not important to include it in a gospel presentation, because he felt people being saved would eventually come to understand that they needed to repent (how exactly that would happen was not made clear) but he believed there was no need to tell people that!
There existed a kind of cut & past approach to the scriptures, picking and choosing what emphasis to put on particular parts of Gods word. It’s dangerous because it impedes the authority of the scripture and the exaltation of the Lord Jesus himself, and for this reason is a non negotiable no matter what area of the word is being attacked.
A pastor leading from the front or a lay person like me, should absolutely tell people to repent, it’s an essential component of the gospel and not to be missed out or side stepped. Not properly explaining and understanding has serious consequences, as explained by Paul,
“without repentance there is no forgiveness of sin” Acts 3:19
Watch out for churches who subtly change, omit or miss apply doctrine that it might sound correct at first glance at first glance, but it totally off. One way to get familiar with potential error is to get familiar with the bible, learn it and memorise this will begin to help spot when someone is misusing scripture.
Got questions does a really good job of explaining in more detail the need for repentance being necessary for salvation.
There’s a Low view of scripture and no application of scripture
A church that teaches scripture but at the same time has a low view of it, seems like a contradiction of terms (and it really is). How can a bible teaching church have a low view of Gods word? This question was heavy on my mind i could understand how these to ideas could be so opposed to each other.
I came to find out this issue could manifest in a few ways and mine was not the only church to suffer this unfortunate fate. If there is an erosion of the biblical text at a fundamental level, at its core, it comes down to how scripture is interpreted or explained (Exergeting). Erroneous interpretation of Scripture has deadly knock on effects and ignores the important connection between the hard work and efforts involved in teaching the word and seeking the approval of God, rather than men.
(interpretation of the word should be clear and accurate)
Paul instructed Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” 2 Tim. 2:15
The problem was when they read the bible everything has to fit the picture in their mind of who they think God is and what they think God should be doing, they read themselves into scripture rather than letting the scripture speak for itself, therefore eroding and weakening it.
Let me illustrate, in one sermon the pastor called Gods sovereignty into question by saying, God is not sovereign over sickness and all the evils of the world, he condemned the idea that God could……
he simply couldn’t marry the idea that God could have supreme power over everything, including sin and evil.
This kind of delivery ignores large portions of God’s word, like, in Acts where, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Gentiles and the peoples of Israel determined to do all kind of evils to the Son of God,
and many other such teaching and removes scripture from it’s context, focusing emphasis on things scripture does not, which is both manipulative and dangerous.
John MacArthur said,
“God is certainly sovereign over evil. There’s a sense in which it is proper even to say that evil is part of His eternal decree. He planned for it. It did not take Him by surprise. It is not an interruption of His eternal plan. He declared the end from the beginning, and He is still working all things for His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:9-10).
For more reading – https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A189/is-god-responsible-for-evil
This is such a subtle attack because if you were to ask them, if they believe they have a low view of scripture, they would say, they teach biblical truth. The problem is, they only go so far and no further, it reminds me of Peter’s words about Paul’s teaching,
“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures”. 2 Peter 3:16
Love in the church was lacking
Determining whether there is love in a church is also a difficult issue to discern right away, it can take time to see how people respond to personality differences, disagreements and how people resolve (or don’t resolve) arguments.
I must say, this is the the one that broke my heart the most, the church severely lacked love. As I said earlier when I arrived, people seemed warm and welcoming but it took a relatively short time to feel a coldness begin to emerge.
Of course I say all this with the caveat that biblical love is not measured by how nice people are to one another, though in polite societies like the UK, it’s a great commodity to possess, however, the bible clearly describes that true love is an attitude of heart which displays itself in sacrificial action. We’re told in the book of John, that love should be the one attribute that characterises and distinguishes Christians from all others.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
It’s a type of love whose expectations are low, in other words, I relinquish my wants, needs, rights for the sake of the object of my love.
That’s why in the beginning the snide comments disguised as jokes, and strange observations like my coffee cup resembling a baby’s sippy cup, seemed relatively harmless. But as sin does, developed into a growing hostility that progressed into outright insults, taking the things I would say completely the wrong way.
The issue of selfishness bound up in the heart of sinners, that results in factions and disputes among other things, is a problem every church has to face, so my church was by no means unique in this matter. But why is serves as a sign of potential unhealthiness in a church is because, along with the the other problems I mentioned before, it creates a compounded effect or a chain reaction. The pastor is not rightly handling with the word, there’s no accountability ie no church discipline ( that’s a topic for another day) and there is no requirement for people to be obedient to the word.
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-
Why do things always seem clearer in hindsight, spotting obvious flaws in a church is relatively easy if you know what to look for, but the more subtler issues that exist, can be harder to detect and uncover, however with a bit of foresight you can spot the signs and take action.
My list of problems is not exhaustive and I could add many more things but I hope you get the point. We’re to be on our guard and be Bereans, who like a good detectives went to the word to see if even what Peter was saying was true, if you have any doubts check the scriptures.
I have a few resources below and a bit of a checklist you could use to help you navigate making a decision when deciding to join a new church.