What is the Ideal Church?

When people are asked what an ideal church looks like, often there are two types of answers.  If they are happy with their current church, their response to the question will consist of everything they like about their church.  If they are unhappy with their current church, their answer may consist of a couple of good things about it, but soon they will begin to speak about all of the things which they feel are lacking.  The most often cited areas (positive or negative) usually have to do with musical style of worship, age of the membership makeup, and the personality of the pastor.

Missing from these types of conversations is often the concept of biblical faithfulness.  Is the church actually being faithful to the standards and commands of Scripture?  Many people do not even pause to consider this, not even for a moment.  What many of us do, rather than speak about how our church lines up with biblical standards, is report about how the church lines up with our own personal preferences.  There is a big difference.  A church can be extremely biblically faithful in an area such as worship through music, yet not satisfy someone’s personal preference.  The danger comes when a personal preference is mistaken as a measure of biblical faithfulness.

Of course, there is no perfect church because there are no perfect people.  But the ideal church will be one which is most faithful to all that God commands in His word.  This is why it is vital that Lakewood members read and study the Bible and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our understanding of it.  There is nothing wrong with having a personal preference, but we must understand how and when to set aside our personal preferences for the good of the church, so that we can better serve one the Lord and one another, and better preserve the unity which He provides to His church.

Are your opinions of Lakewood (positive or negative) founded in Scripture, or in opinion?  Search God’s word diligently.  What does He have to say about orderly worship and corporate ministry efforts?  Certainly, there are areas where Lakewood needs to improve.  What might they those areas be?  Let’s root our worship and ministry in God’s word alone so that we may be found faithful in His sight.

Blessings, 

Pastor Bruce

bruce.cullom@gmail.com