WHERE’S A GOOD CHURCH?
When I was a boy, I remember people asking the question, “Which is the right church?” In 1993, our Canadian “church” specialists, Don Posterski and Erwin Barke, authored a book which pursued a more contemporary query: Where’s a Good Church? I suppose “right” and “good” might have the same connotation for some people, while others would not bother themselves with either the similarities or distinctions of those terms!
The answer to this question becomes important when we move from one place to another or when we become disenchanted with our current church. Our answer will be determined mainly by our personal definition of “good church.” Not long ago, “good” was determined by the quality of the pulpit because the “message” was considered to be of utmost importance. More recently, “good” seems to be primarily determined by the desirability of the music, since we live in a culture where music carries the day! And, of course, there is the not-so-biblical criteria which determines “good” by the acoustics and splendor of the “church building” or by the number of people who enter it. “Good” tends to suffer severely from “what suits me”.
If you are looking for a “good church” I suggest you place all other indicators on the back burner and search for a church that—may not have the most eloquent preacher nor the most scintillating music—but one that is making a distinctive difference in its neighbourhood (Matthew 25:35-36; James 1:26-27). Surely it is past time for us to stop focusing on “going (in)to church” and to start giving all our energies and resources to “going into the whole world” – making disciples by sharing both the mercy and message of Jesus!
