Featured You Might Be in the Wrong Church If...

You might be in the wrong church if your New Covenant church is still using Old Covenant terminology and concepts, like "altar" (as in "altar calls"), "sanctuary", and "tithes".

 

Would you expand on your reasons? And, are you "open" or "close?" What's wrong with "closed?"

The first communion was closed, wasn't it?

 

No. Really. I've read where the Roman's crosses looked more like "X"s. I think we should be careful with symbols.

 

Oh boy, what a fun thread, my turn, my turn, here goes, these are from personal experiences:

You might be in the wrong church if:the chair of the pastor search committee (also a deacon) shares in detail with other members of the psc about how he was praying/meditating one afternoon and had a "vision" regarding who the next pastor should be, and the recently recieved resume in his hand has a picture of the man who was in his "vision". (And as Gomer Pyle would say "surprise, surprise" his vision is spot on, oh and no one should dare question it, that's for sure :saint

You might be in the wrong church if: the pastor when preaching on the necessity of meeting the budget says "I may not know what you give but I know if you give"

You might be in the wrong church if: the pastor, with a big grin on his face welcomes an unmarried couple who he knows is living together in open immorality to join the church and says: "These are the type of young families we want here at so and so church"

You might be in the wrong church if: the couple that have been members of the church the longest are the most grouchy, hateful, conniving, power hungry, controlling, people you've ever met

You might be in the wrong church if: the pastor preaches from Romans Chapter 8, nickpicking verses the whole way, completely leaving out verses 28-30, and finishes by saying, see there "God is for you"

You might be in the wrong church if: the answer to declining attendance and attrition is to "have more meals"

You might be in the wrong church if: the church has a special catered meal with entertainment and fine china/silverware for only those members who participated in a church work day (building and grounds).

You might be in the wrong church if: the church doesn't think twice about spending a large sum of money on steeple repairs or giving the already overpaid secretary a 15% salary increase, but can't seem to find money in the budget to maintain and insure a small bus/van which is used to pick up a few neighborhood children (whose parents don't attend church and could care less), it is especially not necessary since the church can't seem to afford to hire anyone to work part time with children/youth and none of the 75% of the congregation that is retired is willing to volunteer a few hours a week.

You might be in the wrong church if: your membership rolls are bloated (3.5 times typical attendance levels), the FBI couldn't find most of the folks, and leadership could care less

You might be in the wrong church if: the pastor uses commonly known illustrations in his sermons, and with a straight face tells it as if he is the main character in the illustration.

 

When

members judge you instead of love you! :thumbs:

 

Well that is true. Do you need to be judged?

 

I am too ....

 

I go to a small church with an average Sunday attendance around 70 or 80. The Church roll has better than 200 on it. Many of the "missing" have moved elsewhere and never withdrawn their letter. We're not going to kick them out simply because they haven't asked for their letter, unless we learn that they are doing something that is against what our church stands for.

 

So does that mean my church is wrong for using those terms? We don't tithe, but we've studied the practice in Sunday School. We still refer to the main room of the church as the Sanctuary. And we still have altar calls every service.

What should it be if not an "altar call?"

 

Welcome to BB, PT!! :wavey:

Just for the sake of discussion:

(1) Why have they not aligned with a like minded church where they are now, wherever that may be? (If they are true believers would the vast majority of them not do this?, I could understand if they were in the military or off to college and planned to come back to town sometime, but I'd imagine that's only a small percentage of the AWOL members)

(2) How in the world would you ever know if they are "doing something that is against what our church stands for", when you don't even know where they are? Assuming they just moved away, shouldn't someone on the ministry staff still be keeping in touch with them, if they are still considered a member, as a part of the church, shouldn't their spiritual care be a matter of importance?

(3) You probably don't know where the vast majority are, and probably don't know if they are in a biblically sound church or not, and probably won't take any action regardless, are your afraid that you might "hurt their feelings"?

 

I cannot speak to this. My church's practice is to leave a name on the roll until there is some reason to remove it. Some people actually leave the church with no intention of joining another church. Some people join another church without ever requesting their letter, meaning they basically have two church memberships.

What I meant by that was, if the person is still local, and they've been invited back, but they persist in their sins, whatever they may be. Once all steps have been taken, we initiate a process called "Withdrawing Fellowship" from someone. I'm in my 30s and I've seen this done once. But it remains an option, if needed. This is a last resort option.

I don't know where they are, nor do I make it my job to know. Our church roll is just a book. We're not beholden to it. We don't publish the numbers every Sunday. It's really just a church directory. We also don't have a full-time staff or anything like that. We're not afraid of "hurt[ing] their feelings."

 

I think Jesus offered the bread and wine to all who were present, even to His betrayer.

At our church, communion is offered to any believer who is in right fellowship with God, and prior to distribution of the symbols there is a time of prayer, with our pastor encouraging folks to restore that fellowship, if necessary: "But let a man examine himself..." After that, participation is left up to one's conscience.

 

All I am saying is that using the terms "altar" and "sanctuary" is misleading. Where is any of that encouraged in the Bible?