Is It Wrong To Attend Two Churches?

The biblical Church was a family, they shared everything and took communion in a intimate, meaningful manner. It wasn't about the one speaking or lessons given. It was about coming together as one body to worship Christ Jesus and be in community and service with fellow believers. With my home church I cant help but serve and give to my community of believers, my family. After attending another church for only a month iv already been compelled to serve and give to that body. I know with my servants nature and unhealthy inability to say no, I would end up serving both. This is darn right impossible and i would be spending all my time volunteering the crap out of both. This is where it gets iffy for me. It would be unhealthy to serve two body's half way. This is unfair for both.

I strongly agree with the words of my good friend Josh when he said, "We can't be consumers."

As Christians we are called to serve. And serve our Church.

"Sadly, too often people “church hop” to more than one local body with the intention of picking and choosing something from each one because they feel they cannot find one church that “meets their needs” or gives them everything they think they should be getting from a church. They may attend one church for the music, another for the preaching, and a third for the social gatherings. The problem with this line of thinking is that Christians are to align themselves with a group of believers in order to give, not to get. We are to be actively serving and ministering to one another with the spiritual gift we have received from the Spirit, and when we spend minimal time in each group, we cannot do that effectively. In addition, we give the impression that we are not committed to the believers or the leadership in any one church, and that is a poor witness to others. While there may be legitimate reasons for someone to attend two or more churches, and nothing in the Bible forbids it, it is hard to see how such a practice could fully benefit either the believer or the local churches they attend."http://www.gotquestions.org/two-churches.html

Though even with all this said I can't say that attending two churches is wrong. I wish i had an objective, "heres how it is", black and white answer. But i cant find one.

So far this is what i believe,

1. We are called to serve and be active within our Church.
2. If another act is taking away from the time and money we invest in our Church we need to manage our efforts so that our Church is not compromised.
3. Church isn't about the speaker, or the worship. If it was, people would be leaving all the time because the Church is not constant. It goes through extreme changes throughout is lifetime. It NEEDS to be about the community. The family. And just like all families, they will face change. people will leave, people will come. Tom Lance is a great example of a man who has remained loyal to his family through all (and there is a lot! just ask him!) the changes. We must be yoked together in order to persevere through lives ups and downs.


Yet with all this said can you still come to the conclusion that it is wrong to spend your excess time attending another church service, and learning from a different speaker who has a different interpretation of biblical scriptures? I can not say. But I can speak for myself and say that I will spend my excess time serving my body of Christians, rather then being served by the body of another's.


-Writers opinion.

Fear.

Lately iv been pressed with the fear of not understanding or lack of understanding. I stand at the thresh hold of reality as a senior in high school about to confront the world of adult hood with no idea where ill be in 6 months. I understand Matthew 6:33 when God says if i pursue him then everything else will come to me. But what would it mean for me to "pursue God." I could go to college, become a pastor. I could invest in being a worship leader. I could leave everything that is familiar to me and serve the persecuted and the poor. All of the above would directly glorify God and further his kingdom. So what is a foolish teenage boy with the ability to become anything and everything to do? The one thing I can hold on to is his promise In Matthew. That no matter where i end up, He, my loving Father will guide and sustain me.

My Hero

You might have heard the story of Elijah before but i would like to give you my personal view on it and why this man has grown me into a better man of God.

His story begins in 1kings 17: I wont write his whole story but hit the points i need to to make the point i aim to hit.

Elijah first spoke to Ahab, the most evil King to ever come before to Israel. He spoke with the confidence and faith that the words he said came straight from his God who he served. 1king 17:1

He was then told by God to go and hide east of the Jordan while famine and drought covered the land. 1kings 17:2-7

He was then told by God to leave and go to Zaraphath where a widow will house him. 1kings 17:8-24 It was here that food was miraculously provided and Elijah rose her son from the dead after a illness had killed him. After he did this the widow said to him "Now i know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth."

God then told him to confront Ahab. (notice how during their confrontation Elijah knew the exact number of prophets of baal. this must have been intimidating) 1kings 18:17-19

During a contest with the prophets of baal (1kings 18:22-46) Elijah was so confident that he taunted the others. He socked his alter to display that it was not by his power but Gods that it would catch. He then prayed and fire was shot down from the heavens.


I will stop the story here so i may make a point. Elijah listened and obeyed whenever God told him to go somewhere. Through God he lifted a child from the dead, supplied a widow with food, and called fire from the heavens. It was evident in every aspect of his life that he was a man of God.

Now for my point. 1James 5:17 "Elijah was a man just like us."

HOW CRAZY IS THAT??
A man that God used to call fire from heaven and revive the dead! We are no different then any man who was in the Bible. Moses, Noah, Paul, Elijah, and Jesus. Yes Jesus! though He is the son of God while he was on earth he was man and we can do greater things then he.

John 14:12-13 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what i have been doing. He will do even greater things then these because i am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."

How do I affectivly Read The Bible?

So I was recently thought two different ways people interpret the Bible. I heard this from one of my favorite teachers and followers of Christ, Francis Chan. I heard it, I did not see it so my spelling is most likely off.

Exi-Jesus: An attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively. Comes from a greek word "to draw out or lead out." The purpose is to take a text of scripture and trying to figure out "what dose this really say?"


Isi-Jesus: Importing a subjective meaning into the text.

You can look at the Bible and read it two ways. You can START with the Bible (Exi-Jesus) and figure it out objectively "what does that mean" and try and get the meaning out of it. The other, what you don't want to do,(Isi-Jesus) Is taking our desires, our thoughts, our traditions and going into the scripture taking verses out of the bible to prove your point of view. You can really prove almost anything if you really want to. This is a very bad habit i was blessed to break early on.

Watch "Are Your Beliefs Biblical?"

Its tough enough to read exogetically, what would it look like if you LIVED exogetically? If you took the Bible, the book your whole faith is based off, and lived like it tells you to live?

Start with the Bible and see what you learn :)

Understanding Gods plan

Iv learned to understand what God is doing and why he does it is darn near impossible. Part of the Hindu belief is the acceptance that "If you think you understand God you are even further from understanding God then you were before, because now your dirty human preconception of him has marred His divine holyness."

Despite the fact I heard this from a man who does not believe in the Christ he has a lot of truth to his statement. We can't understand God. He is God and we are man. If we understood Him and his actions we would no longer need Him or faith. He keeps himself a divine mystery to us.

There is one exception however, The Bible. God has reviled himself to us in ways I continue to try and grasp. He tells us that he does what he does out of love and not out of anger. (Psalm 94:12 & Hebrews 12:4-6) He also says we have nothing to fear and no reason to worry.(Luke 12:22-34) Again he tells us that in order to follow Him we must leave EVERYTHING behind, take up our cross, and follow him.(Luke 5:27-28 9:57-62 & Matthew 16:24-25)

I am at a point in my life where i have no clue where I'm gonna be and serve. I do know i am strongly attracted to missions and serving overseas. I don't know what and have no clue where but I know my God has a plan and I'm o.k. with not understanding it.

He is God, I am not.