This is the next in a series of posts to answer the questions Amanda Socci asked me at Write Nonfiction in November.  If you're a nonfiction writer, make sure to check out her November writing challenge.

If you’ve been attending the same church for more than a year or two, it might be time to visit another church next Sunday. Tweet this!  This isn’t a permanent change but just one Sunday to do something different.

When we go to the same church for years, we get comfortable.  We know the people, we know the songs, and we know the church.  This isn’t a bad thing, but it is good for us to leave what makes us comfortable once in a while.  There are many good reasons to visit a different church once in a while. Here are five.

1.  Remember what it was like to be a guest.  If you’ve been attending the same church for a long time, you may not remember well what it is like to attend a church for the first time.  You don’t know anyone.  You don’t know if the place you chose to sit if that space is someone’s “spot.”  Will they serve communion?  How will they serve communion?  Will you know any of the songs they sing?  When you visit a new church and then come back to your home church, hopefully you will find yourself more sensitive to those who are attending your church for the first time.

2.  Appreciate a different style of worship.  If your church sings hymns, try one that has a praise band.  This is not just about music; if your home church is casual, try out a church that is a little more formal or liturgical.  Put on a tie or a dress.  Church can be done in many different ways; you don’t have to love the new style, but learn to appreciate the different ways the church worships.

3.  Get a different perspective.  If you’ve been listening to the same one or two preachers for a while, listen to someone else’s teaching.  You might not agree with everything they say, but sometimes the best way to sharpen your beliefs is to consider the ideas that you disagree with.  On the other hand, you might learn something that you find rings true that you’ve not heard taught before.  Just be sure to weigh carefully what you hear, whether at new churches or your home church.

4.  See what other churches are doing.  Observe their methods, programs, and activities.  How do they do Sunday School?  Do they order the service in a way that seems more conducive to worship?  If you see something you especially like that you think could work at your church, approach the leadership and humbly offer your suggestion.

5.  Recognize the body of Christ is all over the world and all over your city.  The people at the church you choose to visit may be strangers, but we are all going to be sharing heaven together.  Christ only has one body.

What kind of experiences have you had when visiting new churches?


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“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”  2 Peter 2:1 (NASB).

A recurring theme in the Bible is the warning against false teachers, but does your church watch for those who will come into the church and teach ideas that go against the truth of the gospel?  There are several steps churches can take to combat this threat.


Recognize that false teachers are out there.

The first, best thing that a church can do is to be aware that there is a threat.  If a church doesn’t believe this, they will overlook the false teacher, not knowing him or her until the damage is already done. 

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”  Matthew 7:15 (NASB).

The false teacher comes in looking like everyone else, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Sometimes that costume seems pretty authentic if you don’t look close enough.  So what do you do to catch the wolf before he or she gets very far?


Be careful of who is allowed to teach.

Someone told me recently that at their church, all you have to do to lead a Sunday School class is be a member of the church.  I admit, I don’t know what process is involved for becoming a member, but for many churches, all you have to do to be a member is walk down the aisle at the appropriate time.  Do the elders take time to discuss the lifestyle and beliefs of the people they are accepting into the flock?  How much do you know about the beliefs of those teaching under the authority of your church?  This includes all of the paid teaching staff, Sunday School teachers for all age groups, and life group leaders.  Anyone who is teaching the people of your church should be examined in some form or fashion.


Make sure your church knows the Bible.

The best defense is, as usual, a good offense.

“The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”  Acts 17:10-11 (NASB). 

The Bereans did not not take anything for granted.  Instead, when they heard a teaching they were not familiar with, they went to the scripture and studied to be sure if what they were hearing was true or not.  If your church is solidly educated in the scripture, a false teacher will have a harder time gaining traction.


Have a plan for dealing with false teachers.

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”  2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NASB).

Know ahead of time how you will deal with false teachers in your church.  It is important that you are careful about how you deal with false teachers.  Take the person aside and kindly speak with them.  Talk with them about the issue at hand; have them explain their beliefs and then explain why you disagree.  It is possible that a frank discussion may be all that is necessary for correction.  But if they continue to spread these false teachings, you should bring the person before the elders of the church for another discussion about their beliefs, and, if need be, a decision to remove them from their teaching responsibilities. 

If you are not in a position of leadership and you find yourself attending a church that is spreading false teachings, you may want to find an opportunity to speak to the leadership about the issues you have with the teaching of the church.  Otherwise, you should leave the church and find a church that is teaching the truth of the gospel.

Have you ever found yourself in a position of having to deal with a false teacher?   What did you or your church do about it?

My church is currently in the process of selecting a new worship leader.  We have had two different people so far come visit the church and play with the worship band.

I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes as the church leadership interviews each candidate, but I am reminded about what is important in a worship leader.

Obviously, you want someone who can sing well and probably play an instrument or two, but that person isn’t so difficult to find.  No matter how nice they are to listen to, before a church hires them, there are other things that need to be considered, that I think are equally, if not more important than how well they can sing and play.


Christian Life

Anyone that is leading in the church should be someone who seeks to follow God and His word.  That is the utmost qualification.  Whether you’re looking for a senior minister, a worship minister, a life group leader, or a kindergarten Sunday School teacher, any seriously-considered applicant must have a relationship with Jesus.  No ifs, ands, or buts.


Worshiper

A worship leader isn’t someone who simply sings and plays an instrument.  A worship leader is leading the people of God into worship.  If a musician isn’t worshiping God, they shouldn’t be a worship leader.  Now, I understand that we don’t always feel very worshipful, but a worship leader should be someone who is regularly worshiping God.


Theologian

I am going to spend a little more time on this one, simply because most people will agree with my first two qualifications, but less will consider this important.

Ozark Christian College has three different degree plans for music ministry.  One of the degree plans, Bachelor of Music and Worship, at this time requires 139 credit hours of study.  Forty-five of those are music and worship related classes.  Twenty of those include college orientation, grammar, writing, psychology, teaching, physical education, and speech.  The seventy-four that are left are Bible and Bible-related classes such as evangelism and missions.  This music degree has more credit hours in Bible than it has in music.

If someone is going to stand up in front of people and teach about God, even if it is in song, I expect that they know what they are talking about. My hope is that when a church is looking for a worship leader, they ask candidates the same questions they would ask of a senior minister. I realize that not everyone in a church believes the same things, but I do not want someone who disagrees with or misunderstands fundamental ideas of the faith, such as who Jesus is, sin, and redemption.

The worship leader needs to be able to choose songs that are theologically sound.  There is something about music that sticks around for a while.  If you sing a song in church, it is likely that you will find yourself singing it later in the week.  Maybe you’ll download the song and listen to it over and over.  If you’re anything like me, once you’ve heard a song enough times, you can go ten years without hearing it, and when you finally do hear it again, you can still sing every word.  Music sticks around.  It needs to be truth.

These days, Christian music is given a lot of grief about not having any theological depth.  We need music in the church that teaches theological truth, but this isn’t even what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about those songs that are just wrong.

The very first song I noticed misusing scripture was one based on John 12:32.

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (NASB).

It really is a nice song, singing about how he will lift up Jesus and that lifting up Jesus will cause others to come to Jesus.  Evangelism at its best.

Unfortunately, the writer of this song failed to read the rest of the passage in John 12.

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”  But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He would die.  The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must by lifted up?  Who is this Son of Man?”  So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you.  Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”   John 12:31-36 (NASB).

Jesus was not talking about a figurative lifting up.  He was talking about His crucifixion!  So this song and others like it are essentially singing about crucifying Jesus.  But if someone simply read verse 32 without studying the verses around it, he or she would not even know it.

I think this is a minor example, since the song isn’t really teaching anything that is theologically inaccurate, even though it is misinterpreting the scripture it is based on.  But it is a reminder to pay attention to the songs you sing in church and on your own.

If you are a worship leader, or if your church is in the process of hiring a new worship leader, be sure that you look for more than just a good musician.

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The Huffington Post recently posted an article about megachurches, stating that worship at a megachurch is an “intoxicating" experience.”  I’m not sure I’ve ever used those words exactly, but hundreds or thousands of people in a room worshiping God all at once is something to experience, even if you only do it once or twice.

When I was in high school, I was a member of a church that had less than one hundred regular attendees and the whole building could probably fit inside the auditorium of your standard megachurch.  We had a piano and a single worship leader at the front.  There were hymnals in the pews, though we did upgrade to a projector to display the words to the hymns and choruses.

A few times a year, the youth group would go to events at the nearby Bible college. Worship times at these events took place in the campus chapel, which holds about a thousand people, the size of some megachurch auditoriums.  Contemporary music and lights attracted the junior high and high school students, but one thing that was always special to me about those events was the number of people worshiping God together.  It was an experience like none other, participating in worship with more than just the thirty or so members of our youth group or the hundred in church on Sunday morning.

When my husband and I moved to Texas in August of 2007, we initially attended a small Church of Christ down the road from our house, with an attendance of a hundred or so, but after a few months, we realized that it wasn’t a fit for us (unrelated to size).  In January of 2008, we began attending a Baptist church on the other side of town.  Everything we had heard about the church up to this point was positive, and, for the most part, they seemed to align with our beliefs even though they were Baptist. 

The church was one of the biggest in town, holding three services every Sunday, with 2500-3000 coming into the building each Sunday.

After being members of this large Baptist church for about four and a half years, we felt the push to move on to something else.  Last month, we started attending a Methodist church.  Although I’m not certain of the number of members or attendees, I am confident that it would not be labeled as a megachurch. 

We’ve been at the church three Sundays now, and with the people we already know and the people we’ve met since our first Sunday, I am convinced that, percentage-wise, we already know more people at the new church than we ever knew at the megachurch.

Is that good or bad?  

My introverted personality loved the large service where I could walk in the building and be mostly left to my introverted ways.  The next question, I’m sure, is how I could feel like I’m really connecting with the church when I’m an anonymous person sitting ten rows from the back wall, twenty rows in front of me, and five sections of seats instead of the usual two or three at a smaller church.

One thing that was often said at the megachurch I attended was, “The best things about this church don’t happen in this room.” 

I think that is what makes a megachurch work: life groups, Sunday School classes, programming tailored toward specific groups, and lots of resources and places to serve.

Yes, it does take more effort to be plugged in and connected at a large church, but there are more outlets.  If a person wants to find a place to serve and connect, whether at a small church or a megachurch, he or she needs to take steps to find that place.  And if a person does not want to serve and connect, it is just as easy to walk into a small church for an hour and a half on Sunday and then leave without becoming a real part of the church as it is to disappear in the worship services at a large church.

On the other hand, it can be a much more satisfying experience if you spend an hour and a half worshiping with thirty or a hundred people who are friends, or at least you know most of their names, than worshiping with virtual strangers.  Some of the best worship experiences are small groups of friends or family on a porch or around a campfire.

A regular question asked at our life group was, “Were you at first service?” Or second.  Or third.  The sheer number of people made it nearly impossible to know who you were worshiping with unless you were very intentional about seeking people out.

Maybe this is the reason that sometimes our Sunday evening life group felt more like church than Sunday morning worship.


Through all of my experiences with varying church sizes, I realize the positives and negatives of each.  I think in the end, what is important is finding a place to worship God and get connected, whether it is among thousands or hundreds or tens.


I would love to hear some of your experiences with different-sized churches and why you choose one over the other.  I do ask, though, that in your comments please be considerate of those of us who choose to worship at a different-sized church than you do.