Church Shopping

I don't really like the term "church shopping" as I don't believe church-going should be treated like a commodity, but since it's the commonly used word for trying to find a new church home I'll go with it for now.

Levi and I have attended a great church plant in Norman since I was in college. Of course, it had its challenges just like other churches, but the preaching was true and gospel-centered, and we enjoyed making it our church home. Unfortunately, the church recently dissolved mostly due to losing steam and needing to reorganize and restructure before trying to plant a church again.

I was surprised by how lost I felt not knowing where we would go next. I don't know why I was surprised, since true, Biblical community is meant to foster meaningful relationships that aren't easy to leave. Partly, I felt lost because I had tried several Norman churches while I was in college and never could find quite the right fit (that is until I found this church plant or rather, as it happened, it found me).

At the time I was searching for a church in college, it was difficult to find one that seemed committed to preaching truth directly from the Bible, which was my top priority. The thought of embarking on that process all over again (now with another person who has his own opinions and standards, too) was incredibly daunting.

To make the process seem even harder, I realized that I have grown a lot in my knowledge of God over the last five years, and I was worried that would make me even more critical of the teaching at any new church I tried. With all of this build-up, I began to convince myself we would never be able to find another church committed to Biblical truth, at least not in our area.

Nevertheless, as Levi and I prayed for direction we felt led to begin visiting other churches before deciding if we would make our home somewhere else or try planting a church again with some of the people from our previous one. We knew that God was not surprised by this turn of events in our lives, and I must say that was extremely comforting to realize. In fact, it is all part of his perfect plan to achieve our good and His glory.

Despite the peace we began to feel about this new chapter, it didn't make visiting churches any easier. It's always awkward to be the new person in the room, especially if the church you visit is a smaller one. However, it's been good to get us out of our comfort zone. So far we've visited three churches with a few more on our list. I'm excited to report that none of them have been crossed off the list. Sure, there are things we like or don't like about each, but most importantly we have found Christ crucified being preached at all three.

On the way home from visiting a church last Sunday, I told Levi that I've been so pleasantly surprised to find truth being taught in our area churches after my previous "church shopping" experience that seemed to produce little fruit (in both senses of the term).

Having grown up in a more casual church, the more formal services have always seemed a bit cold to me. I realize now that in the past I have equated that cold feeling to dead worship. I am excited that this time around my eyes have been opened to how truth can be communicated and celebrated even in those settings. As Levi pointed out, the more formal services (rather than being cold and dead) are simply structured in a way to more greatly emphasize one of multiple ways we should approach God, with reverence. That's not to say that casual services do not show reverence to God, but rather they may emphasize yet another aspect of how we can approach God, as a friend of sinners.

Our church visiting isn't over yet, but I have already learned a lot through this process and am looking forward to what else God will reveal through it. I do want to say as a disclaimer that there are churches out there that do not preach truth and it is very important to guard yourself against those. However, I've found that when I am less critical (while still being on guard against false teaching) I see Christ more. Praise Him!