Michael & I went to a special church service the other night. It was a "family gathering" of church members, a time for everyone to be together, to pray together, & to worship God together. The only thing missing, at least for us, was the "together" part. The fact that our church is so terribly large is compounded by our living an hour away. So, we don't know anyone; we rarely even see anyone who looks familiar. We don't feel part of the church community. The need for godly men & women in our daily lives is a regular topic of conversation around our home. Needless to say, we're feeling very isolated & alone.
It wasn't always this way, though. That's the sad thing. We were once part of a church that loves God, teaches His Word, & loves each other. Distance was an issue then, as well, but we had personal relationships with our brothers & sisters in Christ. However, we saw what we felt were some glaring oversights. Our strategy could have been to be more patient. We could have decided that even if our concerns were legitimate, we should stick it out & work through it. We could have. We should have. But we didn't.
In all honesty, we knew what we were giving up when we left. We knew that the size of our church combined with living an hour away would make community an issue. We just didn't realize how much of an issue it would be, how big of a hole it would leave in our lives. We thought the trade-off for the preaching was worth diminshed community. We were wrong.
Belonging to a church that is committed to worshipping God through the preaching & teaching of His Word, reaching the lost, & loving each other through thick & thin is what's important. I've come to realize that we most likely will not find a church that lines up perfectly with each & every one of our beliefs & preferences. But if these things are happening, that's enough.
Learn from our mistake. Love your church.
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4 comments:
Boy can I relate to this. We just left a church that we loved when we moved from CA, but it was a 45 minute drive making close fellowship much more of an effort. We had plenty of churches nearby with great people at them, but they were lacking in other areas, mainly expository Bible teaching. Now that we have started from scratch in our church search, it is very important to me to be closer for that fellowship. I hope you are able to find a church that you can have that fellowship as well.
Thanks, Kelsi. Y'all's reasons for not settling for an area church that's close but lacking in expository Bible teaching is exactly our reason for driving so far away. We did visit an area church this past Sunday that might be a viable option for both preaching & fellowship. Please pray with us about this. We'll certainly pray for y'all's search as well.
I know we are lacking in many areas, but I hope the Lord will give you to us :)
K.J.
I don't know if you'll read this, K.J., but let me just say that we are quite impressed. No church is perfect, because no church member is perfect, but from what we've seen, y'all have got the main things - Gospel, ministering to the lost & suffering, & fellowship. That's what counts. We've been blessed by our time with y'all & are very excited to have found y'all!
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