As of yesterday in Orlando, Florida a new denomination of Presbyterians was formed.   The interim group, The Fellowship of Presbyterians, had met to discuss options of those members of the PCUSA who had fought to retain purity standards for clergy as well as other parts of the constitution which had been based on scripture.   Those measures were defeated narrowly last year, causing much consternation among the members  who had fought these changes for years.   This new denomination is called the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians.   The president is a Minnesota pastor, John Crosby, pastor of Christ Presbyterian, Edina MN.

I am in the process of reading the notes of the taskforce and waiting for a meeting of the elders of my church to study this over and make a recommendation to the congregation as to our involvement to join or decision not to be involved in the ECO.   There are bound to be stories by the media which may be biased (you think?) but this is a wait-and-see thing for each local congregation and each presbytery.   I'll try to keep abreast of these developments because I think this is a much needed move for the Bible believing members.   We are praying that our message will always be the pure gospel and our head, Christ Himself.

A few of the responses I've gotten from friends who've changed churches (some, more than once recently):

Again, no particular order and no response from me until after the list:

I want something new and more exciting.

I want a smaller/larger church than the one I've been attending.

I want more traditional/more contemporary music.

I don't feel challenged by the pastor's sermon.

The pastor's sermon is more like meddling in my life.

People don't come up to me to talk after/before church.

Many of the women here have children, and all they want to talk about is their children.

The church talks too much about money.

Nobody/everybody asks me to do things for the church.

The people don't seem to be really worshiping the Lord as they should.

The people are too physically demonstrative in their worship of the Lord.

I can slip out the back after church and no one notices that I was there.

This is only a sample.  Most people I've asked have been pretty straight-forward about their "reasons."   A few have said something vague, such as, "I just felt it was time to move on."   I purposely grouped these things in contrasting pairs to show that there is no limit to the things people object to or feel slighted by.  Both sides almost always showed up in answer to my question.

As I've said before in another post, to me, church membership - being accepted into a body of believers either formally or not represents a commitment on both sides.   The congregation welcomes you and accepts the role of supporting/teaching etc. and you, the role of doing the same for them:

  "What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church."(I Corinthians 14:26)

Now, I realize that there is another attitude prevalent today which says, "I can be just as good a Christian outside the church as in."   Quite often this is followed by the old standby, "there are too many hypocrites in the church" ...or, "I can tell you horror stories about things that happened in church."    All three of these statements and others like them are meant to imply that the person is better/more spiritual/more moral than those in church or, that church, at best, is either totally unnecessary, evil, or purely optional.

If we think of the church as something we "shop for," this implies that we want to do the choosing.  If we ask God to lead us to the church He would have us be a part of, we want God to do the choosing.   It is no secret that we have been conditioned to "shop" for everything we want.  There are competing products in every line of merchandise and service - and high-powered ads to convince us to buy a certain brand.   So we have taken that attitude to church on Sunday....The church plant, the parking lot, the greeters, the restrooms, the choir or band, the coffee (no kidding), the sermon, the youth ministry - expecting that this church should supply all our needs and wants, including the care and teaching of our children and our personal Bible study.   In doing so, we find that every single church fails on one point or another...(poor coffee) and that none of those things are our responsibility privately.  Also, we are expecting to be wooed by the pastor and congregation, if they really want us, they'll bend over backward to please us.   Then, shortly after joining, something goes wrong or someone looks at us wrong or slights us, and the honeymoon is over.   This is the silliest, most unscriptural, unspiritual, immature scenario imaginable, and yet it is occurring all over the country.   Churches begin to concentrate on getting and keeping people instead of serving God and the community in the gospel of Christ.

God doesn't want churches to become exclusive "clubs" where only certain type people are welcome.   He is raising an army of believers who can put up with a few less than perfect situations and with less than perfect people (which we all qualify to be) in order to proclaim the perfect Christ who provided the perfect sacrifice for sinners, so that we sinners could be His brethren and live and work with Him forever.   We are a body of believers world-wide, not a scattering of Lone Rangers, loose cannons, and secret believers.   

In writing this post, I have become aware that we all are losing sight of God - or becoming our own god/constructing a god according to our own ideas.   I pray that God will use you and I to welcome in a revival of the Holy Spirit's power.   Not only do we want to see our brethren prospering in the abundant (spiritual) life and people being saved, but we want to see God's glory more than to be petted and pleased and catered to.  This is my prayer.

In the previous installment, I included a video clip from the movie, "Passion Of The Christ."   My statement following (or at least my intention) was that the issue of "church" or THE CHURCH is based on the scriptural inferences and references to it that come from the gospel of Christ.   It may seem unnecessary to define "church" to those of us who are IN the church, but there are many church members who are not IN the church and therefore are already at a loss to determine a correct view.

In saying IN the church, I am eliminating the idea that any one person IS the church.   As members of the Body of Christ we are just that, members.   Misunderstanding this is one of the problems involved in defining the Church.   Those who claim to be "automomous Christians" are using an oxymoronic phrase.  No single member of the Body is self-governing, but is under the headship of the Head ( the head of every man is Christ).  We have been born again into God's family and God is our Father (as Jesus taught us to pray thus), so that He is the head of the family and we are not our own.   We have been bought with a price - the precious blood of Christ shed for us, for our sins on the cross.   It may seem unnecessary, again I say, but the view that so-called modern Christians are falling into is radically different from God's definition and His plan for us.   Even our works that we are to do as His children and members of His Body are already planned for us to do and to walk in.    We are not to be loose cannons roaming about doing what we think is "good" without even consulting Him as to whether that thing is "good" or the timing of it according to His purpose.   The same principle applies to our joining with certain segments of the church (local church).    Assembling ourselves together is a command: "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is."   So the question remains as to how we find the "right" church; and having "found" that church, understanding what God's purpose there is for us.    The local church is a social organization as well as a spiritual entity, so we have certain functions within that body in order to help maintain the unity and to grow continually toward perfect peace and unanimity in purpose.   (Also to grow thereby in our personal walk with Christ.)

This is as far as I wish to go in this more or less introductory installment.   Further on, the scriptural passages that talk about the church (and most of the book of Acts and the epistles including The Revelation of Jesus Christ deal with church and church issues) will be cited and discussed.   This subject is of utmost importance for the growth of Christians, for their commission as ambassadors for Christ, and concerning the visible church that the unbelieving world sees.