Attend the Church of your choice

     This topic is one of the reasons I started this blog.  Many people, with good intentions, promote the idea it doesn't really matter where you worship, just as long as you worship.  Most people believe that all the different denominations are just different branches of the same tree, so just find one that suits you.  While that sounds nice, we have to dig deeper.  What are we really saying when we say that all churches are equal?  A close examination of the different denominations will find that, while they may use similar terms, what they believe is as different as night and day.  There are differences in beliefs about salvation, baptism, church authority, spiritual gifts, and many many more. Some of these ideas stand in direct opposition to each other.  Common sense will tell us that opposing ideas cannot both be right, and if both are not right, one (or both) has to be wrong.  If common reasoning lets us know that two ideas cannot both be true, shouldn't simple logic tell us that all the churches with different beliefs cannot all be right?  Funny how people want to use simple logic in every other area of their life except spirituality. (Which has eternal consequences!)  If there is anything we really need to "get right" it is that which deals with Eternity!

     More importantly, however, Jesus stated in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth."  How can we worship God in truth in a place that doesn't teach the truth?  Simply put, we can't!  Therefore, we must not attend the church of our choice, we need to attend the church of God's choice.

     Now the question becomes, Which one is God's choice?  This is where we have to prepare ourselves for a little work. (OK, I know work is a four letter word, especially when it comes to people's spirituality, but again our eternity may depend on it.)  To find the church that God would have us to attend, we have to know what His Word says.  If a place is teaching man's traditions, theology that conflicts with the Bible, or anything other than the truth of God's Word, it is not the place God would choose for you.  This is why the Bible encourages us in 2 Timothy 2:15 to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  John would add to this, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)  Can you say the church you attend preaches and teaches the truth of God's Word?  When was the last time you examined their doctrinal statement against the Scriptures?

     Is a lie as good as the truth?  NO! Then neither are all churches right. Break with the fluffy, shallow sentiment and don't attend the church of your choice, attend the one that's God's choice!