In my Google News feed this morning, an article from an Illinois paper caught my eye: “How to choose a church – Four suggestions for seekers.” The piece is written by an outreach pastor and is apparently part of a recurring “Clergy Views” series.
Here are the pastor’s criteria–in condensed form–for a church worth plugging into:
- Integrity. “I would stay away from any church whose members claim to be perfect, just as I would stay away from a church where people’s lives are not regularly being changed by the power of Jesus Christ.”
- Doctrine. “What they believe will determine what kind of church they are.”
- Friendliness. “If in a couple weeks, no one has made any effort to become your friend, move on.”
- The right fit. “Churches are like blue jeans. Some fit some kinds of people, others don’t. You have to find the kind that fits you.”
To begin with, I’m always intrigued by the interplay of religion and media, especially in smaller outlets, where there is more freedom for a town’s cultural values to be expressed. Of course this article doesn’t represent the faith opinions of the newspaper’s editorial staff, but I’m sure a lot of publications would prefer not to run a piece like this at all. How to choose a church? Who cares?
Regarding the article itself, I really like the idea of trying to give people a good framework for choosing a church. I’d bet that even many life-long Christians aren’t aware of the criteria they use. In our churches, we should be telling visitors not just how much we’d like to have them, but also what they should value in whichever church they choose.
To the suggestions above, I would add the mantra “Don’t date the church.” Be discerning, but also be decisive. What would you add or subtract from the list of criteria?
