Finding the Right Church

The Bible shares story after story about the importance of community! We read about God’s community with His people, God’s people having community with each other, and sharing their community with those outside the faith. God’s design for us has not changed - We are still hardwired for community with each other to this day! It is our prayer at SGM that you will find a good place to have Christian community!

We know that looking for the “right” church for you can be very overwhelming! In an effort to help people gather around the Bible, we have created this guide to give you some simple tools that will equip you in finding a good church community to participate in and grow together. Of course, we would love you to join US! If you’d like to see whether there is an SGM-endorsed home church in your area, or if you’d like to start one, email us at info@simplegospelmovement.com. If we’re not available in your area, pray about JOINING US and starting your own home church!

When it comes to existing brick-and-mortar churches, consider these seven points as you search: 

1) There is no such thing as a perfect church.
Every church has its pros and cons, but many churches have great communities of people who you can connect and grow with. 

2) There are a variety of churches because God loves variety.
Bible believers know there is only one God -The God of the Bible. Yet, as we look at the intricate beauty of the earth, and also the uniqueness of every individual, it becomes clear that there is not only one way to worship the one and only God. 

3) All churches fall into some mixture of only two realms: Mind and Heart.
Some churches lean toward worshipping with their minds - they’re very cerebral. They enjoy complex thinking about the Bible, digging into each verse and studying it word-for-word. The songs they sing are generally more wordy, thoughtful, and careful to be correct in how they express God through song. These churches are considered more “liturgical,” which is just a fancy term to describe an “orderly” service with rituals like taking communion and responsive reading. If the pastor is well dressed, it’s generally another indicator. John MacArthur and Allistair Begg are famous liturgical or “mind” pastors, very thoughtful and careful with the Scriptures. If I was to use a Lord of the Rings reference, leaders like these are the “Gandalf” of the church… a ton of knowledge about the Bible and related History.

On the other end of the spectrum are churches that lean toward worshipping God with their hearts. This means they love generating forms of excitement for God, or giving all participants the opportunity to express themselves freely in various ways during a worship service. While they also care a lot about the Bible, they don’t focus on it as much as they focus on a general sense of love and devotion to God. Churches on this side of the spectrum are generally called “charismatic” or “pentecostal” churches. When pastors of these churches give messages, they are more likely to share their own thoughts and ideas instead of focusing on going verse-by-verse through the Bible. These thoughts they share are called “revelations,” which is a fancy way of saying God “revealed” or shared them with the pastor. In our opinion, they are certainly free to share these thoughts and revelations as long as they don’t go against what the Bible says. There are many pastors and leaders in the charismatic church that are highly respected by many believers, and do a lot of good for God’s people. Some examples are Chris Valloton and Bill Johnson. Following with the Lord of the Rings theme, they’re the Samwise Gamgee of the church… unsure of all the details but completely devoted to the journey.
NOTE: Be very careful not to call heart-led churches “emotional” churches, as it’s considered a derogatory term - They don’t consider themselves overly “emotional,” which can be considered unhealthy, but expressive in a healthy, God-honoring way.

The question you should ask yourself is this: How has God made you to worship Him? Do you love reading and studying topics that interest you? Are you a detail-oriented person? Do you appreciate order and thoughtful living? You may benefit from a liturgical church that focuses more on those things. Do you turn your car stereo all the way up and shout lyrics at the top of your lungs for the whole world to hear? Then you may love being part of a more charismatic church. There is nothing wrong with either person - God makes some people who are very thoughtful, and some people who are full of heart! The world needs both, and the church needs both too. 

4) There are healthy and unhealthy versions of both kinds of churches.
The vast majority of churches are awesome! You would be surprised by how rare it is to come across an unhealthy church. We are convinced that with God’s help, you’ll find a great church community to participate in. As you go, we also wanted to give you some pointers about what to look for as indicators for an unhealthy church. For example, some “mind” churches can at times become overly legalistic. Legalistic means they focus too much on the legal aspects of Christianity. Jesus doesn’t say anything about dressing in fancy clothes in church on Sunday, and yet a legalistic church is more likely to reject or turn a cold shoulder to someone new who isn’t dressed nice. Thankfully, legalistic churches are becoming less and less common these days. Regarding “heart” churches, some run the risk of becoming manipulative. One example of this would be, “God told me that you are not saved until you tithe to the church.” While a manipulative charismatic church is rare, it’s still something to be aware of as you church shop. There’s nothing wrong with the phrase, “God told me…”. It is every Christian’s desire that God would speak clearly to them! But when someone says that phrase and adds something manipulative to the end of it in an effort to control you, run as fast as you can away from that church. 

5) Make sure the church you choose follows the Bible.
You’d think this doesn’t even need to be said, but it does. It applies equally to both mind and heart churches. One of the greatest benefits of putting your faith in God is also being able to know the truths that God has shared with us, and it’s all written down in His Word, the Bible. A church that knows this and seeks God in tandem with careful alignment of God’s Word is a great place to give of your time and talents.

6) The bigger the church - the better the programs - the harder to connect.
The first two make perfect sense - When you have a larger group of people, you have more budgeting power, and with that come higher-quality leaders. At the same time, when you get a crowd together, they’re more likely to look at the stage than they are at each other. This can be beneficial for the person who just wants to anonymously come to a church service and go home. However, in a very small church of, say, fewer than 50 people, you will definitely get noticed. People who regularly attend small churches are more likely to remember your name and invite you to other church-related activities. The large church will invite you to church activities as well, but it will be in the form of announcements from the stage or through a bulletin of some kind. This means you’ll need to make the effort to get yourself into the community, versus being personally invited into it at a small church. 

7) Always remember that unity is more important than uniformity.
It’s impossible to worship a God as creative as ours in only one way. For example, some people worship God by painting. With their talents, they create beautiful, emotive works of art as they express their devotion to God. However, if painting was the ONLY way to worship and we ALL needed to paint as our only form of worship, some of us would be very discouraged! That’s why uniformity is not as important as unity. You can worship in your way, and I can worship in mine, and as long as we stay united, it’s all good.

In application, this means that when you go to church and see people with their hands raised, don’t feel bad that you are not comfortable with raising your hands. When they are shouting the words to the song and you are not, that’s okay too. When they’re struggling to pay attention during the message while you hang on every word the pastor speaks, it just means that you two are on different levels and that’s also okay. When the service ends, make sure to shake hands or hug that person, try to remember their name, and let them know you’re glad they came. That’s what unity over uniformity looks like.

As you go about searching for a good church for you in your area, it is most important that you ask God to show you a couple of good churches to visit. Check websites and listen to online sermons to get a better idea of the church’s size and mind/heart leanings. If you decide to attend, try to introduce yourself to at least three people. Pray before you go, pray as you’re driving there, ask God to show you the people He wants you to meet, and also ask God to give you the courage to meet them!

DENOMINATIONS
Here’s a handy chart we borrowed from Google with a variety of denominations listed, sharing their origins. The “Reformed Church” section will be much more mind/liturgical than the rest. The “Anglican Church of England” section will have the biggest variety of both mind/heart leaning churches. The “Holiness Churches” will be more heart-oriented and charismatic. Baptists and congregational are “mind” leaning.