church searching...

A lot of words are interesting like this that are similar, but not identical. Such as "lawlessness" is sin, but not all sin is "lawlessness".

Self-esteem is sin, but not all sin is self-esteem.

Although, I think that you will find self-esteem at the root of idolatry (as I stated on the other thread), I think you will find it to some extent at the root of all sin.

It's putting yourself first, in one fashion or another.

That's why you can boil every commandment down to "Love the Lord thy God with all they heart, mind, and soul". If you put him first, you won't ___________ (fill in the blank with sin of your choice.) If you love the Lord, you will love your neighbor as yourself, and you won't ___________ (fill in the blank with the sin of your choice.)

Sin affects your relationship with God, and in most, if not all, cases, it affects others.

 

I have been stewing on how to present my answer. It is going to be very unpopular here.

In the New Testament, a Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. Acts 11:26 “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (NASB). The Greek translated “disciples” is also translated “followers” (ICB).

The word “church” translates a Greek word transliterated "ekklesia." To New Testament Greek-reading/hearing Christians, one meaning of the word is this: in ancient Greek culture, the word was used similarly about the community of followers of Pythagoras.* This parallels how Christians are followers of Jesus Christ. The church is the community of Christ's followers.

God has always “added to them day by day” (ASV) per Acts 2:47. Acts 5:14 examples how “believers were added to the Lord” (ESV) as now. Once we become believers, God adds us to Christ's church.

Parts of the church meet together every so often. This is localized congregation. To become part of the church, you were a follower of Christ; to be entitled to full standing in a congregation, you simply had to be part of the church.

Hence, here was what got me to choose my congregation: where is just being a follower of Christ enough for full and unmitigated standing? Where is a Christian not `screened' on the basis of how much s/he agrees with certain party lines or interpretations of Scripture? Where is simply being a follower of Christ sufficient to grant the Christian full access to all opportunities to serve the Lord in the congregation?

That was how I chose my congregation.

___________
*Arndt, Gingrich, et al, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, page 240.