12/10/17 A LOCAL CHURCH

12/10/17 A LOCAL CHURCH

God's plan is for His children to be part of a local church (local body of believers). The local congregation is designed, initiated, equipped, directed and empowered by God. Every believer should be part of a local church. Therefore every believer is part of a local church.

SIMPLE ENOUGH, RIGHT?

NOT SO FAST.

A person who comes to know Christ in some parts of the world may not have a local church. I can easily see this being true in parts of China, India (as well as other parts of Asia), Africa, South America and Europe today. Though a person receives Christ it does not necessarily mean that they will have a local church in their home town. In fact, there might not be a local church within hundreds of miles. That person or family of believers still need to meet together in worship, praise and study on the Lord's Day, but they may not have other believers or a pastor or elders. There may be other so-called "Christian" ministries in their area, such as Catholic or cultic groups, such as Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Watch Tower Kingdom Hall, or Universalists or any number of others. Bible believing Christians would not attend those errant religious groups.

Sadly, in the United States the landscape is covered with hundreds of thousands of groups that call themselves "church," but they do not meet the bare essentials of Biblical Christianity. Therefore, it is not unreasonable today, in this Laodicean Period, to think that a sincere follower of Christ might not be able to find a true Biblical church in his community.

I am not saying that a local church must be perfect before it is acceptable. I am not saying that a person must agree with everything and everyone in a local church, in order to attend. However, there are some criteria that should be met before a believer becomes committed to a group.

I am not going to address those things in this post. I am simply pointing out that we are living in very difficult times and things are going to get worse. People need to quit playing loose with their soul and they need to find and support a serious, Biblical local body of believers, while they have the opportunity. GET OUT OF LAODICEAN GROUPS now.

Without going into specific criteria, let me say that believers should find a local church that meets Biblical standards of sound doctrine, holy living, loving fellowship. If a group claims to be Biblical but does not teach and preach the fundamentals of Christian faith and if they do not lead people into holiness of heart and life, then that group should not be an option for the believer.

It could be helpful to have a couple of lists to evaluate a local body. One lists should name the things (beliefs, activities, standards) that are not acceptable, therefore disqualifying that group. The other list should name the things (beliefs, activities, standards) that are essential to a qualified group. There will be differences, but the differences should be minor.

As I said, it is not unthinkable that Christians in various parts of the world might not have a local body to align with, and neither is it unthinkable for believers in modern America to not have a local body in their own community, with which they can align themselves.

In the Laodicean Period it will usually be "any man" rather than people groups that hear and heed the call of God. I am glad for the communities that have a sound, Biblical church, but I am not duped into thinking that believers should join with groups which are committed to anti-Biblical beliefs and behavior.