Is it wrong to church hop?

Anguspure

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Then you'll have to 'make do' with second-best.
The church is not a second hand car or an old house. It is a group of people who, in Christ, Love one another. If there is any "second best" about it then the remedy is your Love.
I guess Yeshua could say that His followers are second best and move on as well. But He does not, rather He laid down His life for us all, and we should do likewise for the people He brings into our lives.
 
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Albion

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The church is not a second hand car or an old house. It is a group of people who, in Christ, Love one another. If there is any "second best" about it then the remedy is your Love.
:rolleyes: Yeh, yeh. We all know that. So you call it something else, if you wish; but the fact remains that if there is no congregation near enough for this person to reach from her home, she will have no choice but to pick the best one from among those that are available.

We often have people ask which is the right church for them and, after some discussion, we narrow the choices down only to have the inquirer inform us that the only two churches he can reach on a Sunday are the Lutheran one and the Methodist one (for example). So the exercise in finding the right church has to be practical, not just theoretical.
 
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Anguspure

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:rolleyes: Yeh, yeh. We all know that. So you call it something else, if you wish; but the fact remains that if there is no congregation near enough for this person to reach from her home, she will have no choice but to pick the best one from among those that are available.

We often have people ask which is the right church for them and, after some discussion, we narrow the choices down only to have the inquirer inform us that the only two churches he can reach on a Sunday are the Lutheran one and the Methodist one (for example). So the exercise in finding the right church has to be practical, not just theoretical.
Why on earth does it have to about Sunday meetings?
Where do all the Christians go on a week day? They seem to disappear into the weeds and are all but uncontactable.
 
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Albion

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Why on earth does it have to about Sunday meetings?
Church membership is not entirely about "Sunday meetings." Second, whatever can be said about the "invisible church" which includes all true believers, the New Testament both tells us that disciples are to assemble together and gives examples of it. And third, the local congregation provides much that is important to the life of the believer that being on one's own cannot--the sacraments, instruction in the faith, fellowship and mutual support, and more.
 
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Anguspure

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Church membership is not entirely about "Sunday meetings." Second, whatever can be said about the "invisible church" which includes all true believers, the New Testament both tells us that disciples are to assemble together and gives examples of it. And third, the local congregation provides much that is important to the life of the believer that being on one's own cannot--the sacraments, instruction in the faith, fellowship and mutual support, and more.
Invisible is right. Just try and meet for a casual coffee with Christian's when it's not Sunday. If it's not framed in some Bible study or semi formal group it doesn't happen.
I am not opposed to a communal meeting, but thinking that community is constituted on the basis of that meeting is flawed. The disciples met daily and lived together and this is where the pastoral value of a community is met.
My experience is that this forum and forums like it is the only source of day to day contact with the Church that a person can get unless they are immersed in missions or fortunate enough to have a Christian family that they live with.
 
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aiki

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like go from one church to another. Say theres several different congreagations in your area. You want to try them all. How will you know if you dont try?
Or are you just meant to always stay in one church forever.

Well, the options aren't just "stay in one church forever" or church hop. I belong to a particular community of believers, I am member, teacher and Elder in my church, but this does not preclude my attendance at other churches entirely. I sometimes preach in other churches, for instance, and have attended worship evenings and conferences that weren't in my own church. I have, though, a clear, persistent and primary allegiance to one community of believers.

In North America, there is a highly-developed consumerist mentality that has found its way into the Church. There is also - especially in large cities - an enormous plurality of churches from which to choose. These two things - a consumerist mentality and excessive choice - often provoke Christians into church hopping.

I wrote the following as an article given to prospective new members at our church. It may help address your question(s):

----- Membership

Why should I become a member of ------------------ Church?

As you may already realize, the idea of formal membership in a church is no where found in Scripture. No believer in Acts had to pass through the process required by ---- for membership in the church. So, why, then, does ---- encourage formal membership and require a screening of those candidating for membership? Why isn't it enough simply to attend and participate as one wishes in the life of ----?

In the Early Church described in Acts and in the letters of Paul, Peter and John, there was, in any particular locale, only one church. And so, if one wanted to connect with the Church, the Body of Christ, one had to associate with one of these communities of the saints. There were no other options. If one lived in Ephesus and was part of the Ephesian church, leaving the church meant being completely cut-off from all Christian fellowship in Ephesus. There weren't dozens of other churches in ancient Ephesus that one could attend like there is today in virtually every modern city in North America. Consequently, there was a natural strong involvement, born, in part, of a lack of options, that the first Christians had in their local body of fellow believers. There was also severe persecution of Christians that further knit the earliest believers together. The net effect of these factors upon New Testament followers of Christ was to unite them in very close, highly-committed communities.

In contrast to the deeply-united fellowship of believers we read of in Acts (Acts 2:44-47), modern believers in North America have an increasingly fluid attachment to the church(es) they attend. In nearly every city, town or village, there is a plurality of churches from which one may choose. In the very consumerist culture of North America, this creates in Christians a “buffet-style” attitude toward church allegiance: If a church doesn't quite suit a believer, it is a simple matter to move to another church down the road that does. And if that church does not satisfy, well, one can just move on to another, and another, and another. As one might expect, this creates a rather migratory species of Christian that tends to maintain tenuous fidelity to any and all communities of believers.

Such light loyalty to any community of believers comes at a spiritual cost. God intends that there be a deep fellowship, a rich communion relationally and spiritually between believers (John 13:34-35; Romans 12:5; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 1:7), that fosters holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1; Romans 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:7), love, a thorough knowledge of, and commitment to, God's truth (Ephesians 4:11-15), and a united and persistent effort by believers to fulfill the two great mandates God has set for the Church: Evangelism and the making of disciples (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19). When Christians float about from church to church, never seriously committing themselves to a particular community of believers, none of these things is achieved with the same success or in the same measure as when Christians bind themselves to one another in a strongly-committed fellowship of believers.

Formal membership at ---- seeks to address this modern migratory trend among modern Christians and provide them with an opportunity to consciously and seriously commit themselves to the family and work of ----. Membership aims to encourage among modern Christians the strong fidelity the first Christians showed to one another in the Early Church and thereby produce the vital spiritual and eternal fruit that arises from such fidelity.

What does membership at ---- look like?

With membership comes both responsibility and accountability. In regards to responsibility, a member at MABC assumes the following:


1.) The spiritual well-being of those who constitute ----. This requires, of course, that a member make a concerted effort to invest in relationships with their brothers and sisters at ----. To this end, hospitality (1 Peter 4:9; Titus 1:8), participation in church ministries and events, and regular prayer for the ---- body of believers (Ephesians 6:18; Romans 12:12; Colossians 4:2) corporately and individually is essential. In becoming a member of ----, one is consciously choosing to go beyond superficial Sunday pleasantries and into deeper, long-term (as God permits), mutually-accountable relationships with the saints at ----.

2.) A member of MABC adopts direct, personal responsibility for fulfilling, to the best of their abilities, the mandates God has established for His Church: sharing the Gospel and making disciples. Naturally, this means a member understands the Gospel well, has been born-again and has been, or is, in the process of discipling or being discipled.

3.) A member of MABC accepts responsibility for the physical infrastructure of MABC, that is, the building and its contents. This does not mean a member must be janitorial staff for the church building, but it does mean treating the facility with care and respect and encouraging others to do the same.

As far as accountability is concerned, a ---- member is agreeing to the following:

1.) To be under the leadership and authority of the Elders/Pastors of the church, being accountable to them for the manner in which one lives as a follower of Christ. (Acts 5:1-11; 20:28; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 2:15) This entails submitting to respectful inquiry by the Elders/Pastors concerning the content and character of one's living, receiving admonishment (and discipline, if necessary) if one engages in open, willful sin (1 Corinthians 5), or espouses and promotes within the church doctrines and practices that are in contradiction to evangelical Protestant Christian orthodoxy or incompatible with the Baptist distinctives laid out in the ---- constitution (1 Timothy 6:3-8; Titus 1:10-11).

2.) To be in general submission to fellow believers (Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 5:5), willing to be exhorted – and challenged, if necessary – by them in matters of holy living and right doctrine (Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:24-25).

Paul the apostle wrote that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (1 Corinthians 5:6) That is, a little sin (leaven) in the life of an individual believer has a damaging effect spiritually upon the entire community of believers to which they belong. For this reason, accountability is extremely important for every local church body. The accountability described above may seem heavy-handed or intrusive but such accountability enables the Church to be holy, which is essential to obtaining God's blessing and fellowship and to being useful to Him.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18
17 Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."
18 "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty."


Ephesians 5:1-8
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light


2 Timothy 2:19
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows those who are his. And, Let every one who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
 
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justme6272

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Invisible is right. Just try and meet for a casual coffee with Christian's when it's not Sunday. If it's not framed in some Bible study or semi formal group it doesn't happen.
I am not opposed to a communal meeting, but thinking that community is constituted on the basis of that meeting is flawed. The disciples met daily and lived together and this is where the pastoral value of a community is met.
My experience is that this forum and forums like it is the only source of day to day contact with the Church that a person can get unless they are immersed in missions or fortunate enough to have a Christian family that they live with.
I agree, and it's something people never talk about....how all these church folk refer to other people in their church as 'friends' and say that 'we're all family' when they only see them at church functions. I call them 'church friends' or 'acquaintances' but hesitate to call anyone a 'friend' until I've spent time with them, alone, away from church, and not some officially sponsored church function where everyone in the group is invited to the event that's away from church. That includes lunch after church for the singles groups that tend to do that much more than married groups who never do, or some benevolent event like the serving line at the homeless shelter. Someone isn't my friend just because we both showed up to the group after it was announced in church that the group is going to go do those things. If someone insists that you're 'family,' ask them what time is Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and ask them if you need to bring anything. Watch them get suddenly quiet, totally debunking their myth.
 
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Anguspure

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I agree, and it's something people never talk about....how all these church folk refer to other people in their church as 'friends' and say that 'we're all family' when they only see them at church functions. I call them 'church friends' or 'acquaintances' but hesitate to call anyone a 'friend' until I've spent time with them, alone, away from church, and not some officially sponsored church function where everyone in the group is invited to the event that's away from church. That includes lunch after church for the singles groups that tend to do that much more than married groups who never do, or some benevolent event like the serving line at the homeless shelter. Someone isn't my friend just because we both showed up to the group after it was announced in church that the group is going to go do those things.
Although they are family, nothing changes that.....and we all know what family can be like.
 
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jsimms615

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Been a christian 5 years..regularly attended 2. Have visited probably a dozen different ones.

I dont know if thats good or bad but pastor said something in his sermon disparaging ' 'butterfly christians' but you cant blame them for wanting to spread their wings and fly. At least we not fat caterpiller christians eating all day and not doing anything but eat.
I think you should go where you feel welcome and are growing. If your not happy where you are I see no mandate to stay. There is not many churches in heaven, but one and we are all a part of that body. The only problem with switching is if your in a ministry and involved with it others may have the expectation that you be there every week to do that ministry
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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If someone insists that you're 'family,' ask them what time is Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and ask them if you need to bring anything. Watch them get suddenly quiet, totally debunking their myth.
That's what's COOL!/ DIFFERENT with Ekklesia - even just met ones (not met before) -
when they or someone says that "what time's dinner" or "what time I should be there",

there told ANY TIME! Come now, come later, maybe let us know so we can prepare more! OR frequently: God has provided extra, we were wondering what /who He had planned to share with us!
 
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Anguspure

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That's what's COOL!/ DIFFERENT with Ekklesia - even just met ones (not met before) -
when they or someone says that "what time's dinner" or "what time I should be there",

there told ANY TIME! Come now, come later, maybe let us know so we can prepare more! OR frequently: God has provided extra, we were wondering what /who He had planned to share with us!
I turn up at 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning after 5 weeks of isolation. Will anybody be there for me? Of course not. They've all got their lives to get on with and have all but forgotten I exist. The people who will be available to talk will be the secular ones: the old boys on the wharf, the ladies at the coffee shop, the other people going about their daily work. But the righteous ones? Nowhere to be seen.
 
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LoricaLady

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Nothing in the 4th Commandment says anything about going to a Church, or even a Synagogue. Nothing in the Bible tells you that you must go to a Church. If you are being blessed by one, or want to look around for another that might bless you more, you are free to do as you wish. The word "Church" in the Bible is a translation from "Ekklesia". Ekklesia is an Old Testament, Hebrew word. it never meant a building of any kind, but simply means "the called out" believers. The early believers never heard of what we call a Church.
 
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LoricaLady

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Nothing in the 4th Commandment says anything about going to a Church, or even a Synagogue. Nothing in the Bible tells you that you must go to a Church. If you are being blessed by one, or want to look around for another that might bless you more, you are free to do as you wish. The word "Church" in the Bible is a translation from "Ekklesia". Ekklesia is an Old Testament, Hebrew word. it never meant a building of any kind, but simply means "the called out" believers. The early believers never heard of what we call a Church.
P.S. Yes, we are to have fellowship with others. But nothing in the Bible even hints that it has to be in what we today call a Church. The early believers fellowshipped on the Sabbath, in Synagogues and in their homes.
 
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Albion

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P.S. Yes, we are to have fellowship with others. But nothing in the Bible even hints that it has to be in what we today call a Church. The early believers fellowshipped on the Sabbath, in Synagogues and in their homes.
So youe said the Bible records nothing like a church...and then you proceeded to name several. (?) More to the point, none of those examples refers to staying home on either Saturday or Sunday. Synagogues and house churches do qualify as worship centers.
 
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LoricaLady

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So youe said the Bible records nothing like a church...and then you proceeded to name several. (?) More to the point, none of those examples refers to staying home on either Saturday or Sunday. Synagogues and house churches do qualify as worship centers.
Please learn to read more carefully. Nowhere did I name "several" Churches. I said that the word Church, in the Bible, is translated from the word Ekklesia, which does NOT mean any kind of building or denomination, or even, since it comes from the Old Testament, Synagogues. Again, I did NOT name "several Churches."

Where did I say house churches or synagogues do not qualify as places of worship? Nowhere. Honestly this is not the first time, even this week, that you have misrepresented what I said. My words are right there. Clear as anything.

"None of those examples refer to staying at home on the either Saturday or Sunday." That is a logical fallacy on your part, called "the argument from silence." None of those examples refer to staying at home on Monday through Friday either! So, gee, does that mean we have to go to a Church every day of the week? Rhetorical Q.

Notice that in the desert Messiah did not go to a Synagogue for 40 d & n. He is our example. So, though He did go to Synagogues, He also felt fine to NOT go to any, as in the desert, if He so chose.

This is not a debate forum. It is kind of wearying to get posts from someone who misrepresents what you have said, anyway, to tell the truth. If you keep trying to debate I will have to report you. Ditto other posts I leave, btw.
 
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