Lyndon had another good post on church recently. I blogged about a previous one here and had my own thoughts on finding God before that. Here's an excerpt from his latest:
If you're a Christian, you are called to submit to Christ and you're automatically part of his church. If you remove yourself from that local expression of his church (and you're [sic] ability to obey all the "one another" imperatives in scripture) for whatever reason you have, you're also choosing to remove yourself from the local expression of Christ's body, and your commitment to Jesus is rightly in question.What this does NOT mean:
1. If you ever miss a week of church you're going straight to hell.
2. If your church is a lousy church, you just buckle down and keep trudging.
3. Anyone who's ever left "the church" is automatically going straight to hell.What this DOES mean:
1. Bedside Baptist is not a real church. You cannot do Christ's church your own way. You do it his way. Worshipping in the mountains is great, but it's not a replacement for the local expression of Christ's body.
2. If you attend a lousy church, then you need to find a decent church that teaches the truth and lives in obedience to the word of God.
3. If you're struggling here, you most likely do NOT have a problem with Church. You most likely have a problem with submission to Christ. You most likely have issues with sin. As yourself how's your prayer life (hour a day or more?). How's your devotional life? (What did you learn in your study of scripture today?) Where are you serving in your church? (Are you plugged in where you're at?) Can you name the 5 major sins you're fighting and lay out your strategy for battle? (Are you seeking to destroy sin and obey the Lord?)I talk to people, time and again, who are "struggling with church". I ask them all those basic "where are you at spiritually" questions, and they bomb out consistently. I mean, if a person has a lousy prayer life, hasn't studied the Bible in 2 months (or years), is only attending and not serving anywhere at church, and doesn't know where they're fighting sin, that means they're not plugged in to either the Lord or his church. It's always amazing how consistently, people who are spiritually doing horrible are having spiritual struggles.