“Church Shopping”?
"CHURCH SHOPPING"?
1 Thessalonians 5:21
Yeow Chin Kiong
God's word does encourage every Bible-believer, Christian or otherwise, to "Examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you are disqualified." (2 Corinthians 13:5). And, very near the end of our fleshly journey, can we honestly affirm,- like Paul, the apostle,- "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7)?
"Faith" (Greek noun PISTIS) in these two contexts refers to the collective revelation of God, the separate elements of which are to be believed or affirmed,- and defended,- as true by those who want to be in a "faithful" relationship to God the Revealer of those teachings in scripture (Jude 3). Faith in this sense, refers to what the apostle Paul means by "the whole counsel of God" which he had declared to the disciples of Jesus (Acts 20:27). The "faith" is the complete and unadulterated word of God which has to be transmitted by "faithful men" across the generations (2 Timothy 2:2) unchanged in any way (Revalation 22:18-19).
Truth be told, given the "supermarket of faiths" in which we live today, there is a place for "shopping around" before we settle down with an expression of religion (i.e. a "church" or a denomination) we are prepared to devote a lifetime to. The Bible itself commands us to, "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).
While "shopping for a church" the important thing is by what criteria we will choose the church to be a member of, and remain faithful to. Obviously, if we are looking for an assembly of Bible-believers who feel good to be with regularly, to the EXCLUSION of other considerations such as what they believe, teach and practise, we are exposing ourselves to all sorts of errors which might damn our souls (see for example Mark 16:16 which, if not properly handled (2 Timothy 2:15), may lead us to being condemned!).
If we intend to "shop around" we must be armed with a standard or criteria by which we can make a choice to accept or reject what are on the shelves of the "supermarket of faith". Obviously, if we are already predisposed to groups which affirm the gospel of Jesus Christ (as contained in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5), we must still examine if the group teaches and obeys all that Jesus Christ taught as ultimate authority over mankind (Matthew 28:18-20; John 14:15; 5:22-30).
The prime consideration is the group's beliefs, its "faith" which holds its members together. If its faith is defective in any point of doctrine ("teaching") when measured by what the inspired scriptures teaches (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Acts 17:11), our "church shoppìng" is done as far as that group is concerned and we should have nothing to do with it. Why would we want to associate with those who,- no matter how pleasant fellowship with them might promise to be,- are not recognized by our Lord because of their practice of "lawlessness" instead of obedience of His commands? (Matthew 7:21-23)