My Search For The Needle In The Haystack

"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."
Acts 17: 24 - 25 NKJV

Someone asked me some time ago what church I would recommend they attend, if I were to recommend one.  First off, I don't make it a practice to tell anyone what it is they should do.  When it comes to matters of religion, each person makes their own choice.  That being said, if I were to recommend a church, and I'm not, which one would I recommend?  Well, I certainly wouldn't recommend a few of my local houses of worship either by knowing directly their faith and mission or by word of mouth from those who have been there.  This question puts me in a interesting position as I'm of the belief that the church building itself has NOTHING to do with how God sees His children.  That's right, you could build one of the most ornate church castles in the world, but you would still be important in our Lords eyes.  I learned a long time ago that many times we build fancy churches for ourselves and not for God.  Why is that?  For a large, fancy church sets in motion a vicious cycle which I have seen far too often.  That beautiful building requires money, which requires a large loyal congregation to tithe, which requires a number of pastors and support staff.  See where I'm going with this?  In my opinion, we can achieve the same result, or even better, with a smaller building.  But do we even need a church building after all?  I'd say no.  There are those, however, who cling to their traditions and yearn for a church mansion from which to show God how much they adore Him.  I get it.  Do we really believe that God will see us any different if we worship in a fancy building?  Like I said, all too often we build these ornate churches more for ourselves than for worshipping the Lord.  No, that doesn't sit too well with me.  I might be in the minority, but I prefer something along the lines of a grass roots church, where the followers of Christ gather wherever to talk of Him and His presence in their lives.  We find the example of such a church in Acts 2.  Here, the early church of the followers of Christ met in each others houses daily to worship Him {Acts 2:46}.  Without a large congregation, were they able to sustain themselves?  Well, we're also told that the Lord "added to the church daily those who were being saved"{Acts 2:47}.  It is a church such as this which I am attracted to.  Unfortunately, I haven't found one yet in my travels.  A friend of mine is of the opinion that in order to see such a church congregation that we would need a change in our society.  Maybe He's onto something there.

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2: 44 - 47 NKJV

So, what do I look for in a church?  Just look into the scriptures of Acts 2 and you will get a good idea.  I look for a church that is community oriented, driven by a deep, personal relationship with Christ Jesus and.. is small enough to remain dedicated to these values.  See, I'm a firm believer that the more a church grows, the more watered down it becomes not only in its message but its vision as well.  It won't take long for a larger congregation to fall victim to the politics of human emotions, I've seen it too many times in my life.  I believe that this is a big reason for the decline in church attendance in recent years, but that's just my opinion.  I, for one, do not look forward to walking into church on Sunday morning to a blaring, new age version of worship music.  That might be your thing, but it's not for me.  Believe me, my heavenly Father knows in my heart how I feel.  In fact, He knows how we all feel in any given moment.  Another thing, most church sermons these days are beyond boring to me.  More often than not, they regurgitate the centuries old separation theology of the church.  That doesn't excite me.  What I want to hear about is our own relationship with Christ in us.  Yes, that's right, Christ Jesus in us, I want more sermons on that.  The apostle Paul tells us that it is Jesus who lives in us today {Galations 2:20}.  This isn't some middle ages heresy, but the truth of Christ in us today.  Another thing, why would I want to sit through another sermon of condemnation on my own sins?  Paul also tells us that our old sinful nature was put to death long ago {Romans 6:11}.  Yet, we continue to preach the old theology.  I suppose there's a reason why I haven't found a suitable church as of yet.  Mind you, we have a small group pf men who gather each week and talk about Jesus.  We don't have a fancy building or a boring sermon, but what we do offer is the uplifting truth of our freedom in Christ.  My search for a suitable church isn't over by a long shot.  One of these days I might just find it.  Until then I'll keep searching for my needle in a haystack.

~Scott~