“I Can’t Find a Good Church to Attend!”

Too often we hear serious Bible students complain about the churches in their area, give up and say:

“I Can’t Find a Good Church to Attend!”

by Mottel Baleston, www.MessiahNJ.org
          originally published in the ARIEL MAGAZINE print edition.  www.Ariel.org

Recently, in an online discussion group for people who, like me, hold to a pretribulational, dispensational understanding of Scripture, I experienced something that still has me shaking my head. A man was about to move to my general area and asked for suggestions of good, solid churches that he might visit and consider attending. He mentioned that he had looked at the websites of three local churches and was very disappointed to see that none had included a pretribulational position in their doctrinal statements. I assured him that I knew two of the three churches well, having been a guest speaker at them, and that they were certainly Bible-teaching churches where the pastors did in fact hold to a pretribulational, dispensational position. These were also healthy churches in actual practice. I also pointed out that most churches only post an abbreviated version of their doctrinal positions online.  Nonetheless, the man continued to be hesitant as he scanned the archives of recorded sermons from these churches and did not see any recent ones that focused on eschatology and prophecy.

The Danger of Setting the Doctrinal Bar so high that it can’t be reached

This speaks to the general issue of people making nonessential doctrines and practices an excuse for their unwillingness to commit to a local church. It is my observation, based on long experience, that this can be a particular problem for some who study the type of in-depth teaching materials found in publications like Ariel Magazine. In the mind of these folks, nothing can equal what they get from the books and publications that they have studied so diligently. Every pastor is judged as lacking, and the verdict is used as an excuse for not joining a church. It gives these believers license to continue their “search for a good church,” assuring people that they are looking, when in reality they will find fault with every church they visit. Sometimes, the objection is that there is not enough in-depth teaching. Other times, the objection is focused on some minor detail of doctrine in which they differ from the pastor.

A well-known Jewish philosopher once commented on this issue by stating, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” That observation by Groucho Marx is pertinent to this discussion because there is no perfect church, and if you find a hypothetical perfect church, you’ll only ruin it if you join because you yourself are very far from being perfect. It is unlikely that we will ever find one church that emphasizes exactly the same mix of doctrines that we may prefer.

Not Attending Church Is Not an Option!

Of course, at the heart of this is the clear biblical instruction to be in regular, committed fellowship with those who are born again of the Spirit and who hold to the essentials of the faith: Not forsaking our assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing close (Hebrew 10:25).

The consistent pattern that we see in the New Testament letters is the expectation that every believer would be committed to a local assembly, submitting to the local spiritual elders and engaging in fellowship with other believers. Of course, that assumes that the church itself is following the basic New Testament pattern of coming together for the teaching of the Scriptures, the singing of praise, and the encouragement of fellow believers, all done under the oversight of elders who are spiritually mature and scripturally qualified. The Scriptures do not recognize a stubbornly solitary believer as a model to be followed.

The Example of the Fruchtenbaums

I am reminded of the time when Ariel Ministries moved from California to San Antonio, Texas, which meant that Arnold and Mary Ann Fruchtenbaum would be looking for a new assembly to join. They committed themselves to a local congregation whose pastor, a friend of mine, sees Dr. Fruchtenbaum as his primary Bible teacher. In other words, although he had more Bible knowledge than the pastor, Dr. Fruchtenbaum identified with a local congregation because that is the New Testament pattern.

As we see in New Testament history, even in the best of churches there are problems and disagreements, disappointments with people, and even differences on relatively minor doctrines. All believers are growing in their understanding and sanctification, and yes, this statement includes you and me. Romans 14 provides a very helpful explanation. The entire chapter speaks of core, essential doctrines to which we all hold. It also mentions individual preferences and personal practices on nonessential doctrines, and in these we should allow each other some slack: So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and the building up of one another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food, meaning nonessential issues (Rom. 14:19-20). How about allowing the other person the same “wiggle room” that God allows you?

An Overly Critical Spirit

The overarching theme of this issue of Ariel Magazine is the pretribulational rapture. When I think of this topic, I fully embrace the truth of that promise and am convinced that believers could be united with the Messiah at any moment. I am thankful that over the years and through various moves, my wife and I have been identified with local churches and Messianic congregations whose elders and pastors also embrace this truth. My counsel for those who live in areas with a very limited selection of Bible-preaching churches is to find the one fellowship that embraces core, essential doctrines and comes closest to your views in other areas. Simply attend and keep your ears open for several months, and you may be surprised that over the course of time, the biblical ideas that are of special interest to you may be covered and taught as they come up in the Scriptures. This is especially true if the pastor is teaching exegetically through a book. It may be many weeks until the text addresses the issue of the end times. However, if you attend just once and base your judgment on this one experience, you may draw a false conclusion.

This is also true of many other doctrinal areas, such as the Jewish roots of our faith that are so important to readers of this magazine. We cannot expect a pastor to make this topic his one-string violin each Sunday, and as a Jewish believer, I certainly do not expect that. On the other hand, if the pastor is unaware of or denies the significance of the Jewish roots, then he probably gets a good number of other things wrong as well. In a similar way, there are some Messianic congregations that emphasize the Jewish roots of our faith but get some major doctrines wrong (such as the deity of Messiah Yeshua, the inspiration of Scripture, or the importance of Mosaic Law observance).

If we see believers who seem to go from church to church and always have something negative to say about each one, it may be time to conclude that the problem actually lies with the overly critical spirits of these people. A person who is focused on hairsplitting will always find fault, no matter how thankful they should be for a basically sound congregation. In contrast, the Scriptures instruct us this way:  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men (Rom. 12:18).

Mottel Baleston is the Director of the
Messengers Messianic Jewish Outreach of New Jersey
Box 274,  Ledgewood, NJ 07852