Struggling in Your Church?
Now more than ever, faithful believers in the U.S. are troubled by weak or bad doctrine and unbiblical practices in their churches. It has been brewing in theological liberalism and mysticism taking hold in modern evangelical churches, and it is boiling over as many churches abandon the biblical commands for the Church in the midst of political tension.
Over the years, people have come to me struggling in churches that were not teaching Scripture rightly or were otherwise grossly neglecting the commands for the Church. Sometimes it was overt in the form of plain heresy. More often, it was in the form of omission of teaching related to politically charged topics like homosexuality, civil disobedience, and gender roles. My counsel would usually be to stay and try to change the church from within, thinking that this was somehow the nobler option. I thought that staying and trying to advocate for biblical truth was the best thing for the Kingdom of God.
However, in every case the faithful saints were fighting a futile battle, sacrificing their spiritual well-being and the well-being of their families to be forced to the the margins and maligned for holding to faithful orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Eventually (usually after a few years), the faithful saints would leave their churches more dejected and defeated than ever, finding it impossible to change the church they loved and for which they gave themselves up. In some cases, staying cost them their marriages or their families due to spending years, even decades, outside the shepherding of faithful pastors/elders. Years of ministry were spent fighting for truth in the place that should be lifting up the truth already (1 Tim 3:15). Faiths were shipwrecked. I now regret giving those saints the advice I did. I wish now that I had told them to confront the error and then leave to find a disciple-making church in which to serve and be shepherded.
If Your Church Isn’t Obeying God’s Word, Who Are They Obeying?
Churches that aren’t obeying the Word of God are obeying someone’s word. Sometimes that someone is a power-hungry leader building his/her own kingdom. Sometimes it’s just a nice guy who is ill-equipped and unqualified to serve as a pastor (and is thus controlled by the power-hungry leader). Sometimes they are obeying the “winds of doctrine” tossing them around (Eph. 4:14). Sometimes they are obeying the reigning cultural trends controlled by the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2) In any case, the faithful believers who desire to hear the Word of God taught and see it obeyed find making changes impossible. In a church that has abandoned the Word of God for idolatry, there is no place for reasoned exegesis.
This is not to say that that Scripture should not be cited in confronting leaders. Rather, we must expect that it will be more likely to serve the role of condemnation than correction. Biblical confrontation only leads to repentance when the hearer is a Christ-follower to whom Scripture is the final authority. Keep in mind that the issue at hand is that those leaders have already departed from Scripture as their final authority.
We all think we can change an idolatrous church from within. We are all optimistic. We all want to give the church we love (and to which we have given our time and treasure) another chance. But we are seldom successful. Even Martin Luther wanted to reform the Roman Catholic Church from within, but the papacy tried to kill him. So he left.
“This is not to say, that attempts at reformation should not have been made. Rather, those attempts should have been biblical, direct, and limited. ”
I’m Not Writing This to discourage You.
I’m Writing to Get You to Change Tactics.
This is not to say that we should not attempt to reform churches. Rather, our attempts must be biblical, direct, and limited. If your church is in error, meet with your pastor or elder, point to Scripture, ask him to turn from error and to the truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Titus 3). If he doesn’t, take it to the rest of the elders (if your church doesn’t’ have elders, then it’s not a church). If they don’t conform to Scripture, click the dirt off of your feet and find a faithful church. Titus 3 recommends two warnings before having nothing to do with false teachers. It doesn’t recommend walking with false teachers indefinitely in some vain hope that you can change them over time. Confront, warn, then shake the dust off of your feet. The same goes for those who would continue in sin (2 Thess. 3:14, 1 Cor. 5:3-5).
Sometimes the issue isn’t pronounced false doctrine. Many unhealthy churches have good statements of faith which they ignore in practice. For instance, if your pastor or an elder doesn’t know you, then he isn’t shepherding you, and he isn’t your pastor. If your church doesn’t administer discipline, it isn’t your church. If your church doesn’t equip you to lead family worship in your home, disciple your brother, or evangelize your neighbor, it isn’t your church.
There is a significant issue as to how far modern churches have drifted from the teaching and practices God commanded. There’s not room for a lengthy discussion on the topic here, but I’ve found that most American Christians don’t know why Church is important or what their pastor is actually supposed to do. So I’ve included a brief set of principles to consider.
What Makes for a Faithful Church?
Sometimes the issue isn’t pronounced false doctrine. Many unhealthy churches have good statements of faith that do not get applied in practice.
Is Your Church a Church?
Have you ever considered the commands God gave to the Church and thought about whether or not you and your church were obeying them? Here are a few principles to consider:
There should be elders (Acts 15:4, Titus 1:5, 1 Peter 5:1-4, James 5:14, Hebrews 13:17). If your church doesn’t have elders or if one of those elders isn’t in a meaningful shepherding role over you, you aren’t in a church. It may be a church plant in process, which is fine (see Titus 1:5). But if your church is established without elders, it isn’t a church.
The gospel of Christ’s atoning death for your sin and His resurrection from the dead should be preached regularly (Acts 15). Repentance and faith should be the response called for (Acts 2, Romans 10:9-10). If you aren’t hearing the real gospel, the one where you are a sinner and Jesus suffered God’s wrath on the cross for your sin and rose from the dead, then you are not in a church.
Baptism and communion should be regular parts of worship. If your church doesn’t do baptism and the Lord’s supper, it isn’t a church (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Cor. 11). It doesn’t have to do so every week, but either your church administers the ordinances or it isn’t a church.
Church discipline must be administered. If your church doesn’t discipline its members, then it isn’t a church (Matthew 18, Titus 3, 1 Cor. 5). Is sin confronted? Have you ever seen them publicly announce discipline? Has your spiritual overseer lovingly rebuked you? If not, you might not be in a church at all.
Biblical doctrine should be taught faithfully. If your church does not catechize you with faithful doctrine, then it isn’t a church (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Ephesians 4). I’m not just talking about sermons based on the Bible. Do you learn theology in your church? Are you taught why Jesus must be both fully man and fully God? Have you been taught the immutability of God? Do you know what it means that Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us as believers? Is there a system for ensuring you know the essentials of the faith? Has your pastor ever identified false teaching and warned you to avoid it? If not, you might not be in a church.
Elders must meet the biblical qualifications. If your church has women “pastors,'“ it’s probably not a church. If your elders are given to drink too much or have fits of anger or are power-hungry, if their children are out of control, or if they are known philanderers, they aren’t qualified to be elders (1 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2:2, James 3, Titus 1:5-9).
Everyone should be discipled and discipling. If your church doesn’t disciple you and expect you to turn around and disciple others, then it isn’t a church (Matthew 28:18-20).
Every church must gather regularly to hold fast to the gospel and edify one another. If your church isn’t meeting to obey the commands of the church regardless of danger or legality, then it isn’t a church (Hebrews 10:23-25). See the 59 “one anothers” of Scripture.
“23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Faithful Churches Gather Together.
This brings us to the present crisis in the American church, the issue I believe to be most significant in this present moment. The fact is that God commanded the church to meet (Hebrews 10:23-25). Further, God gives us a myriad of commands that all require physical gathering. Even the biblical term for “church” (ἐκκλησία) involves gathering together. He expects that we meet together to break bread (Acts 2:42ff); greet one another (Rom. 16:16); lay hands to pray for the sick (James 5); meet one another’s needs (James 2:15); show mercy; hear the Word of God taught (Rom. 10:17); encourage one another with the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19); etc.
God gives no exceptions to the command to gather. There is no exception for danger, none related to persecution, none for pandemics, none for softball games, none for having a hard day. None. You are expected to be with the family of God when they assemble (Hebrews 10:23-25).
There are a number of reasons why your presence is essential both for you and for the rest of the saints. 1 Peter 2:25 refers to believers as “living stones” in the temple of God, indicating that the Holy Spirit dwells in our midst in a unique way when we assemble together. In fact, each believer (including you) is expected to serve as a priest, administering spiritual sacrifices in ministry to the saints and in worship to God. Looking at 1 Corinthians 11-14 indicates that it is assumed that every believer is active in the assembly on a regular basis. Your spiritual gift is needed at the assembly, and you need the gifts of your church family to minister to you. Your absence hurts both you and your church family.
Make no mistake, if you are neglecting the assembly, you are violating the commands of God, and you are in sin. If your church is prohibiting the obedience to the commands of God, it is no longer a church, and you must leave to join a faithful church.
Special Note: We see instances in Scripture in which saints go on missionary journeys to plant churches or are thrown in prison or who by severe health issues are physically unable to assemble. These are instances of impossibility to gather, not neglecting to gather. So, unless you are bedridden, in prison, or risking your life to take the gospel to an unreached people group, you must assemble.
Video church doesn’t count. Your elders cannot shepherd you through a screen. You can’t use your gifts of encouragement and hospitality through a screen. You can’t bear one another’s burdens, break bread, confess sin, baptize, rebuke, and commune over a screen. Stop pretending. Stop listening to the newly minted false teacher, Andy Stanley, who denies the plain commands of Scripture to assemble. Repent and find a faithful church.
In case there is confusion, sitting six feed apart in a church building also doesn’t count. You can’t lay hands and pray, look someone in the eyes to confront sin, weep with those who weep, or rejoice with those who rejoice while sitting at a distance for fear that the very presence of your brother in Christ might kill you. It isn’t the assembly if you aren’t assembled together.
What About Obeying Those in Authority?
Anytime the laws of men get in the way of obeying the commands of God, the commands of God take priority.
But What About Romans 13?
Inevitably, someone reading this will accuse me of rebellion, and tell me that I’m in violation of Romans 13. There is no time to address the idolatry of statism in detail here. However, I would urge those among you who would bend the knee to mandates and lockdown orders over the commands of God to consider who it is you obey. The early Church proclaimed that they must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29), and that has been the theme of the Church for the whole of history. It has always been illegal to obey God somewhere. It has always been dangerous.
Anytime the laws of men get in the way of obeying the commands of God, the commands of God take priority. Notably, Romans 13 affirms that the purpose of rulers is to be a terror to evil, not to righteousness. The ruler is a servant to God, not the other way around. Never let a tyrant keep you from obeying the Word of God lest you find yourself worshipping the servant rather than the Master.
“But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”
Fallout from Forsaking the Assembly
I recognize that it has been a little more dangerous to come to church lately. The virus is real. In some cases the penalties for gathering are real in the form of fines and harassment of churches.
Here is the counsel I have given those who forsake the assembly due to virus fears:
If you come to church, you MIGHT be exposed to the virus
(though we’ve been meeting for months with no cases).
If you get exposed to the virus, you MIGHT get it
(though we wash our hands and take care to keep things clean).
If you get the virus, you MIGHT experience symptoms
(though many never know they have it).
If you experience symptoms, they MIGHT be serious
(though many have only mild symptoms).
If your symptoms are serious, you MIGHT die
(though the death rate is low).
Special note: According to Johns Hopkins, the death rate is 2.2% of observed cases (which does not take into account those who have the virus and are never tested). The overall death rate of the virus is 76 per 100,000 of the populace. That’s a death rate of 0.00076. Notably, even if the death rate were higher, it wouldn’t change God’s commands for the church to gather together.
Conversely, if you continue to forsake the assembly…
You WILL suffer spiritually.
You WILL be disobeying biblical commands.
You WILL continue to suffer in depression.
You WILL be neglecting the saints who need to be ministered to by you.
You WILL be outside the shepherding care of the elders.
It is no coincidence that depression rates have tripled during virus restrictions. There have been similar spikes in suicide rates, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. While we can’t blame all of this on lack of church attendance, I can assure you that it is a stark contrast to the joy of the faithful saints I see gathered in our house churches every week.
Sheep Need Shepherds
Does your shepherd know you well enough to oversee your soul? (Hebrews 14:17, Acts 20:28).
Have You Been Under the Care of a Shepherd?
The truth is that many spent months “watching church,” happily enjoying video sermons while sitting in their pajamas. They didn’t even notice a difference because they weren’t really gathering in a biblical manner to begin with. Not surprisingly, attendance is expected to continue to be down. People who weren’t a part of biblical gatherings didn’t notice a difference when their churches shut down. Now that their churches are kind-of-sort-of-back-to-meeting under restrictions, they either aren’t returning or haven’t noticed that it’s still not a biblical assembly of the redeemed.
This is in large measure due to the realities mentioned above, but I see a dominant theme related to pastoral care. I’m not talking about nice-guy pastors who visit you in the hospital (though that is important). I’m talking about biblical shepherding that can only be done by a pastor who knows you, who uses Scripture to correct your sin and your beliefs, who prays for your marriage and comforts you when you are in crisis. Real pastors.
I pastor a relatively small network of house churches. Each of the elders oversees a small body of believers. The elders know them. They see how they treat their wives, how their kids behave, and how they interact with the Word. They know who is discipling whom. They know when there is a need. They speak concerns when someone is out of step with the Word. They affirm spiritual growth. They teach the Word. They identify false teaching and warn the saints to avoid it. This is pastoring, but few Christians in the U.S. have experienced it.
It is not uncommon for me to receive a call from brothers caught in sin who attend other churches. In every case, I admonish them to talk to their pastors. But the reality is that they are only talking to me because they are not being overseen by their pastor in the first place. I’ve sent some to their pastors to ask to be shepherded. Some pastors have spoken plainly that they do not know what that means. Others admit to avoiding it intentionally. I once sat in a room packed with pastors who admitted that they are not discipling anyone, because they knew raising the bar for faithful living would cause their church to shrink. (I rebuked them and was scolded for it.)
Confession: I’m a bi-vocational pastor. Most of the elders in my church work for no pay at all. Hearing pastors making 6 figures admit to not obeying the basic command to make disciples makes me pretty angry. When saints in their churches can’t even get them to respond to an email in a time of crisis, I go from angry to heartbroken. When I hear of those churches teaching false doctrine and ignoring Scripture, I go back to furious again. I’ve considered sending those churches invoices when I care for their sheep. Instead, I’m turning to a new approach….
The Faithful Remnant
One thing is certain: God has always had His remnant (Romans 11:2-5). His believing saints are always there, often in small numbers, but always faithful. Over the last month or so, I have received 2-3 calls a week from Christians discouraged that their churches are not teaching Scripture, not fulfilling God’s commands for the church, or are otherwise capitulating to cultural trends.
You will recall that my advice to them before was to stay in the unfaithful church and work to change it from the inside.
Recently, my counsel has changed. Why encourage faithful saints to remain in churches that aren’t churches led by pastors who aren’t pastors?
Believers are meant to assemble together in genuine church families.
I hesitate to use illustrations, but it so happens that this one remains in my mind daily: We have a lot of fires in our fire pit (usually because we have people over to fellowship around the fire). At the end of the evening, the logs have burned down and the coals burn the hottest. To cool the fire, I spread the coals out as far from one another as possible. This causes them to cool and eventually burn out. Conversely, the way to keep a fire going, the best way to increase the heat, is to press the coals together and add fuel.
It is no coincidence that so many Christians grow discouraged over time, cooling in faithless, unbiblical churches. Not only are they isolated from true believers, they are under a constant barrage of bad teaching that further snuffs out the faithful flame. As faithless (and some faithful) churches shrink, and as persecution looms imminent on the horizon, I think often about what would happen if we heaped the coals up.
A key purpose for coming together is to stir up love and good works through edification and to hold fast to the hope of the gospel (Hebrews 10:23-25). I’ve heard so many speak of how discouraged they feel sitting in socially distant churches hearing unbiblical sermons from behind masks. I like to point out that such an effect is the opposite of what the assembly is to do. I wonder if it is because so many Christians are like hot coals literally distanced from the other coals.
I’m advocating that we pull the hot coals out of the faithless churches and bring them together.
My Counsel to You:
Let me be clear. Don’t leave your church just because you are discontent. If your gripe is with the style of music or frustration that you aren’t getting your way, then it is you that must repent, not your church. However, if you ache to make disciples, if you love the truth of the Word of God, if you can’t help but preach the gospel, your not a malcontent, you are a believer!
So, discern if your church is biblical (see above criteria). If you are in a faithful church, praise God! Labor faithfully. Make disciples. Support your pastor. He is undoubtedly struggling right now. Increase your time with the saints. Host dinner in your home. Fellowship. Be the Church.
However, if your church is not functioning biblically, confront your pastor with Scripture. If he repents, you have gained a faithful shepherd. If he doesn’t, leave and find a faithful church. Your spirit and the souls of your family can’t afford for you to wait. The Kingdom of God needs faithful men and women of God doing the gospel work, not distracted fighting futile battles with wolf shepherds. Parents, your children need to sit under faithful teaching (Romans 10:17). Husband, your wife needs to see you lead as the spiritual head of your home. You need to be under a faithful pastor. Kick the dust off of your feet and leave now. You are needed elsewhere.
Need to know how to find a healthy church? I can help.
