Are you looking for the perfect church? You won’t find it. At least not this side of heaven. Why? Because the church is made up of people- each of us with our idiosyncrasies, personality traits and foibles.
In any church there will be people who will grate on you. Similarly you might annoy them. There will be people you will have difficulty getting alongside and working with you because of personality clashes and differences.
At this point you can one of several options. You can leave the church and look for another one. But of course it won’t be perfect either. You can stay in the church but curtail any ministry that involves you working with that person with whom you have problems.
Neither of these is a helpful solution. Neither is what God intends for us. So what can you do instead?
You can choose to look for the positives in the church. You can pray for those people you find hard to get along with. My calender has this quote reputed to be by Thomas Aquinas, ‘to love anyone is nothing less than to wish that person good.’ So surely we can then pray for them. Not pray for God to change them so much as pray for them to grow and continue in their Christian life and to be the person God wants them to be. (We might also pray the same pray for ourselves.) Often as we pray for someone our attitudes towards them change, I’ve found.
So, our prime concern should not be looking for the perfect church, since it doesn’t exist. It should also not be primarily about looking for a church where the people are friendly, even though than is a great asset. Or primarily about looking for the church that has the best music. Yes, music is helpful. I’m involved in a music ministry so I see it as important and valuable but certainly not the, most important aspect of church.
What is of prime importance is a church where God’s Word will be taught faithfully, using the whole counsel of God, not just a verse plucked from here and there and often taken out of context to fit whatever hobby horse the preacher is pushing.
Please visit these related blogs
Finding the Right Church- Part 1
Finding the Right Church -Part 2
Holy Huddles or Reaching Outwards?