What Should Churches Divide Over? What Should We Look For in a Church?

Approximate Reading Time: 34 minutes

Churches can split over silly things. Churches can also stay together despite some severe differences in important beliefs. Likewise, we as individuals can be guilty of leaving a church or staying in one for the wrong reasons. Individuals and churches need discernment to know what’s worth fighting for and what’s worth overlooking.

This article looks at some things that should clearly define a church along with a brief discussion about why those things are so important. These will be things that a church should prayerfully, peacefully, and humbly divide over if they can’t reach a widespread agreement. These are also important things an individual should look at when looking for a local church to call home or trying to decide if a church is no longer aligned with their own beliefs.

I don’t write this article lightly. Church division is no small matter and shouldn’t be the immediate response to differences in doctrinal beliefs. Likewise, individuals should be slow to bail out of a church the moment they don’t agree with something. The point of this isn’t to say a church must be in absolute harmony or that we must agree with absolutely everything our church teaches, but rather to give us a chance to consider our own beliefs on things we ought to care about.

Beyond denominations

Many people pick a church based on its denomination, and a church will base most beliefs on whatever group they belong to. Ideally, that will be a safe path for people to travel because denominations are really nothing more than a statement saying “In addition to the gospel, these are the specific beliefs you can expect.” And I will even cover many of those beliefs in this article.

However, there are two problems we can run into when we look at nothing more than a name. First, many of us may not actually understand what a specific denomination believes. What does it mean to be a Baptist and how is that different from a Reformed Baptist? What particular beliefs separate a Presbyterian from a Lutheran? If we’re honest, most of us will align ourselves with a denomination because it’s what we’ve always known without realizing we believe differently on non-gospel issues.

Secondly, churches themselves may believe and teach things outside of their denominational label. From experience, I’ve been in Baptist churches that said very different things about some of the topics covered in this article. We must go beyond a church’s sign and look at what’s being taught from its pulpit and lived out among its members.

Assumptions I make

This discussion could fill an entire book, so I’m limiting this to some basic assumptions. 

1. I assume that a church already has a clear teaching of the gospel and other topics I discussed in my article about what Christians should divide over. If a church is teaching something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, nothing else about what it does “right” will matter. 
2. I also assume a church is Protestant; if a church doesn’t have a pope (Catholic) or patriarch (Greek Orthodox), it is almost guaranteed to fall into some form of Protestantism.
3. For some topics, I assume there is a single right way to do things. For others, I will grant that there are different interpretations. I don’t expect anything to be done or believed perfectly, but something like a pastor’s spiritual maturity is clear enough in Scripture that it’s not a matter of different interpretations, but how true it is.
4. Not all of these hold equal weight. There may be one topic that is make-or-break for people, and others where people can disagree with their church while still living in full agreement with more important issues. However, if a topic is listed here then I believe the topic itself is important, or the topic is an indicator of other problems we should look at.
5. I will also speak as though my readers desire to be actively involved in a church, both through serving and submitting themselves to the authority of the church’s leadership. The less invested we are in our local church, the easier these things are to overlook. Likewise, if we don’t biblically honor the role of elders within that church, then we don’t need to worry about disagreeing with a particular practice or interpretation. 
6. Lastly, I assume that people will come to conclusions about these topics based on thoughtfulness, prayer, and seeking wisdom in God’s word and from other mature Christians. These things are not about preferences, traditions, or our comfort level, but what we truly believe is necessary and biblical.

Pastors and leaders

Preaching philosophy

What is the goal of preaching every week? A pastor’s preaching philosophy will have a significant impact on his flock’s spiritual health and maturity

A pastor who primarily focuses on telling stories will create people who come to for entertainment. Centering messages on our personal problems will cause people to view the Bible as a means of helping them out of their current circumstances or expect a sermon to be a godly version of a motivational speech. Teaching what the Bible says without any kind of application will create intelligent people with no idea how God’s word applies to their lives. 

A pastor has a definite goal in mind with how he chooses to preach, and that goal sets the course for the entire church. Preaching may look different based on the pastor’s unique gifts and personality, but the greatest goal must be to accurately interpret God’s word, explain what it says about God and mankind, and show why it matters for their lives. Anything less will eventually lead to the pastor preaching their opinion, a motivational speech, or an interesting lecture rather than God’s word.

Pastor’s ability and methodology in interpreting God’s word

This topic is closely tied to preaching philosophy. A pastor should know how to read the Bible, and he should do so in a way that lets God’s word define his beliefs, rather than his beliefs interpreting God’s word. This is ultimately the difference between exegesis and eisegesis.

• Exegesis: looking at the context of what’s being written (including history, genre, author, and the things said before and after a passage) to understand the objective truth of a verse or passage, and from there understanding how it applies today
• Eisegesis: taking our own beliefs and inserting them into the text, making God’s word say things with minimal regard to its context

No one can do exegesis perfectly. However, a pastor must understand it well enough to do it from the pulpit and in his daily life. 

Dig deeper: How to Read (and Understand) the Bible explains exegesis and uses Jeremiah 29:11 to show the difference between exegesis and eisegesis

Pastor’s spiritual maturity

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,… He must not be a recent convert… Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders… (1 Timothy 3:2-7)

A pastor must be a mature Christian. The qualifications listed in 1 Timothy highlight the reality that there’s only one difference between what God expects of a pastor and what He expects of a mature Christian: a pastor must be able to teach. Everything else expected of him is simply the marker of a mature follower of Christ.

Too often, we emphasize the ability to teach over everything else. We want a pastor to be entertaining. If he checks that box we’ll ignore or excuse away other problems like a lack of self-control, being arrogant, or having a violent personality. When examining a pastor, we must hold him to all of these areas while still understanding that an imperfect human being will have struggles and imperfections.

Dig deeper: The Terrifying Responsibility of Teaching

Women pastors and teachers

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. (1 Timothy 2:11-12)

Is this command true for all time, or was it only applicable to the people Paul was writing to (similar to his command about head coverings)? How a church handles this question impacts more than just whether a woman can be a pastor or teach a class of mixed genders. It will often reflect how a church interprets the Bible or views biblical gender roles as a whole.

Pastoral involvement

During my initial brainstorming, I first labeled this as “church size.” However, church size is more about preference, but a church’s size can often impact something much more important.

The word “pastor” means shepherd. They are the ones God has set over a church to care for the people like a shepherd cares for a flock of sheep. To that end, we must ask how involved a group of elders is with church members. The size of a church compared to the number of elders can be a good indicator, but a large church can have an active team of pastors while a small church can still overlook large chunks of the congregation.

It’s tempting for church members to want to blend in and slip through the cracks. Most people naturally want to just come on Sunday morning and have no other interaction with the church throughout the week, and they’re comfortable with a pastor who allows (or encourages) that. However, the health of a church demands that its pastor does more than stand up in front of the church once a week. He and the other elders also need to comfort and guide those who are hurting, teach those who are spiritually immature, train those who are maturing, and give opportunities to those who can serve or lead.

Protecting from false teachers

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30 LSB)

I marvel that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another, only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, let him be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is proclaiming to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be accursed! (Galatians 1:6-9 LSB)

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Although the life of a pastor is filled with many complex and difficult situations, their actual job description is pretty basic. One clear and unmistakable job requirement is that they protect the church from false teachers and the teachings they promote. They must pay close attention to the many New Testament warnings about false teachers and guard not only themselves but also the people God has placed in the church they shepherd.

Make no mistake, a false teacher isn’t just someone who gets something a little bit wrong. They are enemies of the cross who lead people away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. and into a false understanding of Jesus and salvation. A church’s leaders must be diligent and intentional about protecting their flock from the enemies of their Savior, no matter how likable they are or how much we like the content they create.

Dig deeper:

See my warnings to pastors who use music from Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation: jump to the discussion here, or read the full article here.

Church leadership structure

There’s a surprising amount we can discuss for how a church handles its leadership structure. This can include things like:

• Number of elders
• Elders’ responsibilities
• The function of deacons
• How people are elected to their offices
• Accountability within leadership

And these will impact various functions within the church. We looked at a very important one in the previous topic of pastoral involvement, but the leadership structure will obviously or subtly affect almost every area of the church. A church with a single pastor and deacons who aren’t actively involved will stretch that pastor very thin and can negatively impact the church’s health. Compare that to a multi-pastor church with deacons who are actively looking for ways to relieve the pastors and enable them to focus on teaching the word and caring for the people.

Church functions

Tongues, healing, and other supernatural gifts

This topic can range from having biblical disagreements to being completely unbiblical. Some churches believe spiritual gifts are still active but they should only be practiced within biblical boundaries. Others believe that not only are they still active but that we can practice them in ways that contradict or supersede the boundaries laid out in the Bible.

This is an easy one if you have a biblical reason to believe the supernatural gifts have ceased. But those who believe they’re still active must be biblically discerning about what God’s word says about them and how that should impact what it looks like today.

Finally, how we view tongues will immediately define whether a church is walking in disobedience. 1 Corinthians 14:1 says to “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” If this is a command for us today, then any church that doesn’t pursue these gifts is walking in disobedience. If this command isn’t for us today, then a church is telling people to deceive themselves and speak in tongues or give prophecy under their own power rather than through the Holy Spirit.

Dig deeper: 

Check out my 3-part series on the gift of tongues: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

1 Corinthians 14: Church & Our Consumer Mentality

Discipleship

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… (Matthew 28:19a)

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2)

 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

Discipleship is a critical part of Christ’s command to His followers. We’re supposed to call people to salvation, but there’s a deeper assumption that people won’t just sit in a pew and never grow. A disciple isn’t just a convert but is instead someone who keeps following and growing.

A church without biblical discipleship is a church filled with immature Christians. People may hear the gospel and have their sins forgiven, but they’ll be stuck in their growth. Like a pastor’s preaching philosophy setting the pace for how a church reads and applies the Bible to their lives, a church’s commitment to developing all members in spiritual maturity is vital to the health of the individuals and the entire church body.

Dig deeper: The Need for “Bottom-Up” Discipleship

Sacraments or ordinances?

This is a lesser-known discussion within most churches, but it primarily has to do with baptism and the Lord’s supper (or communion). The question ultimately boils down to this: do we do these things because something spiritual happens through it, or do we do them to remind us of a bigger truth?

Those who believe that baptism and communion accomplish something spiritual would call them sacraments. Most won’t claim that there’s anything related to salvation about them, but instead that God gives some measure of grace to a person through their one-time baptism and their regular communion. In other words, God’s grace is not only a measurable thing, but a person will have more of it immediately after taking part in communion.

Those who hold these as ordinances see baptism and communion as an expression of their faith and a memorial of what Christ did. There’s no physical or spiritual difference between someone who does or doesn’t participate in these, nor would they believe they have any more or less grace based on participation.

Thus, a church that practices sacraments will have significantly different beliefs compared to those that practice ordinances. The differences themselves may not be as important on an individual level. However, church leaders who have studied deeply will base their stance on sacrament vs. ordinance on some other important areas of theology. 

Modes of baptism

This is directly related to the previous point but is worth mentioning on its own. There are a variety of beliefs about what baptism signifies, what it accomplishes, and who receives baptism. If we only look at the very stark contrast between those who baptize infants and those who only baptize those who have proclaimed faith in Jesus Christ, we’ll see that each understanding of baptism will ripple out into other beliefs. 

Note that a church preaching salvation requires baptism is an immediate red flag. But assuming that’s not the case, it’s important for a church and its members to understand God’s will regarding baptism.

Church discipline

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)

The passage above stresses the importance of a group of believers pulling one of their members out of a sinful trajectory. A Christian may refuse to repent after an escalating amount of involvement. In that case, the church must remove that person from local fellowship for the health and safety of both the individual and the church.

This isn’t a popular thing to openly discuss. Some churches may wield church discipline like a wooden paddle, threatening to discipline anyone who steps out of line. Others may refuse to follow the mandates laid out in God’s word. A church’s stance on discipline and how/when it’s implemented will often say a great deal about how they view things like holiness, accountability, and the church’s role in its members’ lives.

Role in society and beliefs about social justice

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:42)

This has become increasingly important over the past decade. While the church has traditionally been a leader in caring for those in need, the last century has seen Christians in more prosperous countries closing their hands (and hearts) to those in need. We entrust the poor and hurting to social programs and may even justify what we do or don’t do based on our political lines.

Though God’s word is clear that Christians must care for those in need, the how and why of the church’s involvement is an important discussion to have. Modern discussions like social justice are rightfully dividing churches today, since how we view social justice will determine whether a church is being obedient to Christ. And like many other beliefs, what a church believes and lives out regarding social justice or their role in society is going to impact other beliefs as well.

Dig deeper: Should Churches Get Involved with the Black Lives Matter Movement?

The overall purpose and importance of the local church

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Beyond just a church’s role in society, what is its role in the life of a believer? Is it a place to be with other perfect people, a social club, a place to get motivated to do better, our source of spiritual nourishment, or something else? 

Is the service meant for unbelievers to hear about Christ or for believers to keep growing in their knowledge and understanding? 

Should the church provide opportunities for their community, outreach into the local area, theological training, counseling/support… or is it just a place to go once a week without affecting other areas of life?

Is a physical church even necessary, or is watching a sermon at home the same as going to church, but with less gas consumption or requiring us to brush our hair?

We should ask many questions about the relationship between an individual and a local body of Christians. But a church and its members both need to understand the church’s purpose so that they can cooperate in living that out.

Dig deeper: 

The Centrality of the Local Church 

Watching a Sermon Isn’t Church

The Church Is a Hospital, Not Hospice

Purpose of worship (and what teachers it sends us to)

Music is often a passing thought for many people. A church’s philosophy on worship not only opens up a space for people to set their hearts and minds on God but it also says a great deal about their theology. It can even show how tolerant they are of unbiblical teachings or outright heresy.

Note that this is wildly different from the type of music played. A church’s style of music should rank down by carpet choice or pews vs. chairs. 

Instead, the content of the worship should matter, both to us and the church. What does it say about God, us, and how we relate to one another? Is Christ portrayed as our Savior and the focus of our lives, or just a means of making us feel better about ourselves? Worse, is our Lord spoken about with reverence, or does Jesus give us the same warm fuzzies as a song about a boyfriend and girlfriend? 

In addition, churches need to know where their music is driving people when worship has ended. Three churches create the most popular music today: Elevation, Hillsong, and Bethel. All three teach a version of the prosperity gospel, ranging from the pastor’s poor understanding of Bible interpretation to teaching a false gospel. Meanwhile, Bethel teaches an entirely unbiblical version of Jesus Christ.*

Many people will argue that the churches may be wrong, but the music itself isn’t unbiblical (or at least not all the songs). Two things we must consider when considering worship music is:

1. Their music ministry is a pipeline to their teaching and preaching. As people enjoy their music more and more, they’ll naturally look further into the church that produces it. A Christian who sees that their local church uses this music will naturally assume that the churches who produce the music are also promoted and worth incorporating into that Christian’s life. 
2. We must support these churches to use their music. Even if not paying them, using their music will directly impact algorithms that companies and services will use to push this music to other churches or Christians. If a church or individual is using this music, they are directly supporting these ministries and aiding in spreading their entire message. If we wouldn’t directly support them because we don’t agree with their dangerous beliefs, we shouldn’t support them indirectly by paying them for their music or increasing the reach of their heretical teaching.

Some churches will sing this music after great care and thought, and others may have never considered the more significant implications of using music from certain groups who are still active today. This is a difficult decision that many churches are still trying to navigate today, and it’s one worth caring about and discussing with our leaders. 

*(Bethel teaches that Christ didn’t perform miracles as God because that would mean we can’t perform His same miracles, and He suffered on the cross so we could be healed from disease)

Dig deeper: Colin Miller’s video 5 Alternatives To Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation Music

Other church beliefs

Integration of psychology

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

There’s an assumption that psychology is a science that continually unlocks how the human mind works. However, we often misunderstand the difference between observation and interpretation. Psychology can observe things like behavior with objectivity, saying things like “this person admits to getting angry when the house isn’t clean or someone cuts them off in traffic.” However, explaining why those things make that person angry isn’t objective – it’s an interpretation by an individual. And this is where churches can adopt dangerous understandings about humanity.

In short, a psychologist’s interpretation is like any other interpretation. It begins with foundational beliefs about the world and human beings, and then the interpretation is made through that understanding. In this case, these interpretations will come from a naturalistic worldview, viewing humans as purely physical beings without an eternal soul that is enslaved by sin unless it has been set free by Jesus Christ.

Pastors (or Christian psychologists) want to put a Christian twist on these interpretations. Unfortunately it’s impossible to take the conclusions from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (the current trend in psychology) and remain biblical sound in how we understand our behavior, desires, or even what we should do about them. If a church and its leaders explain humanity through worldly thinking and interpretation, they aren’t equipping their people to think and live biblically.

Dig deeper: 

My 5-part series called Christians & Psychology 

Visit my topics page and go to “Psychology & Mental Health”

Calvinism vs Arminianism

Calvinism and Arminianism are two radically different ways of understanding salvation and justification. Calvinism is often framed using the word TULIP:

T – Total Depravity (humans are inherently sinful creatures and incapable of pleasing God on their own)

U – Unconditional Election (God chooses, or elects, who will be saved based on His perfect will and not based on anything inherently valuable or special about the individual)

L – Limited Atonement (Christ only paid for the sins of the elect, otherwise God would punish some sin twice – once by punishing Christ on the cross, and another by punishing the person who dies without asking Christ to save them)

I – Irresistible Grace (if God chooses to save someone, God will save them; no one who is “elect” can or will resist their salvation)

P – Preservation of the Saints (If God saves someone, they can do nothing to lose that salvation)

The simplest way to understand true Arminianism is that it says “no” to the 5 points of Calvinism.

• People are inherently good
• God would never choose some to be saved and thereby withhold any hope of salvation from others; Christians are saved by their own decision
• Christ suffered God’s wrath for all sin
• All people are free to accept or reject God’s offer of salvation
• People can likewise choose to live in a way that forfeits their salvation

It’s possible to attend a church for years and perhaps never encounter where they land on this. However, it is guaranteed to affect much of what happens in the church, especially the gospel. It affects how we understand sin, gaining and keeping salvation, God’s sovereignty, God’s fairness… and that says nothing about interpreting areas in the Bible that talk about things like election, our sinfullness, or losing our salvation.

Prosperity theology

At its most basic level, Prosperity Theology understands our relationship to God as transactional. “If we do this, God will do that.” It will often claim that God’s will and desire are to bless His children with wealth and earthly goods, heal them, and prevent any suffering in their lives.

Unfortunately, most churches will accidentally hold to some degree of this, even if it’s just “If I stay faithful to God, He will stay faithful to me.” This differs from “God will stay faithful to me because that’s who God is, regardless of what I do.” This way of thinking is always appealing because it allows us some measure of control over our circumstances and our position before God.

We should be mindful of how much this flawed thinking is present in what a church believes. A church may go to the extremes of the Prosperity Gospel, where the appeal of Christ is that we have access to a genie who grants our wishes. This false teaching may present itself in a church’s teaching on what Christ’s death accomplished, what it means that He’s healed us or wants us to have life, and what the goal of our lives are.

However, even teachings like “God will bless you if you give money to the church” can obligate God to something He hasn’t actually said to us today, and that’s blasphemous. It turns our incredible relationship into little more than a business agreement – we do something good or bad, and in turn, we expect God to hold up His end of the bargain to also do good or bad to us.

Dig deeper: 

You Can’t Make God Love You More 

You Can’t Make God Loe You Less

Works, happiness, or holiness?

Churches can fall on two extremes when it comes to our purpose in life. On one end, we believe that our purpose in life is to do good works to earn (or keep) salvation. We treat the Bible as a checklist and God as a taskmaster who makes sure we stay in line.

On the other end, we follow the world’s teaching that our entire goal in life is to be happy. The Bible is our means of motivating ourselves to do better or feel less bad about ourselves. God is given the role of cheerleader or life coach, always believing in us and wanting to remove any hardship from our lives.

There is great danger in either of these extremes. We want a church that doesn’t burden its people with works, nor should it free its people from the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Instead, a church should be a group of sinful people, lead by imperfect pastors, that is always pointing its people to a deeper understanding of God’s holiness and His desire for us to be like Him.

Dig deeper: God’s Greatest Desire for Your Life

Understanding of Hell and Eternal Punishment

Are people literally in agony in Hell right this moment? Is the punishment for sin eternal and conscious, or will those thrown into the Lake of Fire be utterly annihilated? Is Hell a way to scare people into accepting Christ, or simply a reality of God’s justice? Or perhaps it’s not a matter of either/or, but a totally different understanding of what Hell means or how God deals with those who die without the righteousness of Christ.

Hell is an increasingly-unpopular topic in churches. A church that compromises its beliefs for fear of what people will think or how it makes us feel is a church that doesn’t place a high emphasis on God’s word. I’d also argue that a church that embraces the classic teaching of Hell because they love wrath and condemning others is just as guilty of ignoring God’s word for the sake of their own desires. However, a church that draws its beliefs about Hell and punishment for sin from careful and responsible study is a church that will do that in other areas as well.

Dig deeper: What Happens to People Who Never Hear the Gospel?

Covenant Theology vs Dispensationalism

There’s no simple way to quickly help someone understand where they fall on this debate. For our discussion, the key differences are what the church is, when the church was started, how we interpret the Old Testament, and how we interpret Revelation.

In Covenant theology, the church has either replaced Israel or Israel has matured into the church. Either way, what we know is that the church and Israel aren’t different. A major way this impacts us today is that God’s Old Testament promises (given to Israel) apply to us. The book of Revelation describes events that took place within a few centuries of Christ’s death. The Millenial Kingdom discussed in Revelation isn’t a literal length of time, but refers to what we’re living in right now.

In Dispensationalism, the church is a new entity. We haven’t replaced Israel, but instead we have only existed since Pentecost in Acts 2. This greatly impacts how we understand Old Testament promises to Israel because they weren’t made to us. It will often require us to read Revelation as a literal prophecy that will still take place in the future (especialy due to how it discusses Israel). The Millenial Kingdom will be a time when Christ physically rules on Earth for 1,000 years.

Specifics of creation

Whether Genesis is literal history or a type of mythology story isn’t the greatest issue a church faces in understanding the book. Instead, there are definite consequences to treating the book as a story, especially since it’s often done to make it harmonize with the universe being billions of years old.

If the first part of Genesis isn’t history, there’s no need to assume the rest of it (or perhaps other books in the Old Testament) is actual history either. If death and the curse didn’t enter the world because of a literal Adam and Eve, then we must explain how death and suffering (as seen by the fossil record) existed before the Earth was cursed. It also changes everything we understand about how God created man in His image, His purpose for us, and many other things established from a literal interpretation of Genesis.

Dig deeper: What Is Young Earth Creationism?

The “why” of do and do not

Many churches can look different without either being in sin. Whether it’s music, Bible versions, clothing, celebrating Halloween, or how often they have different services, churches will inevitably do things differently. What we should be asking isn’t what a church prefers, but why they do it.

As an easy example, take the King James Version of the Bible. One church may use it because it’s what the church has been using for decades, or it has older members who are just more familiar with it. Another church may believe the KJV was divinely inspired, or that any other translation has been corrupted by Satan. One church makes a choice based on preference, while the other dances close to heresy or completely ignores history and the science of Bible interpretation.

As with all things, churches can find their motivations by swinging too far in one direction – either adding rules through legalism or abandoning rules out of fear of offending people with God’s holiness. When looking at a church or handling division within a church, it’s important to look at the motivations behind certain beliefs because sinful motivations don’t stop at preferences.

Dig deeper: 

Legalism and Holiness: What’s the Difference?

3 Reasons Legalism Is So Appealing

The Trinity

A belief in the Trinity isn’t necessary for salvation. However, a church should have leaders who are able to study and understand God’s word enough to see the Trinity displayed in the Bible. They should be able to understand that the Father, Son, and Spirit aren’t three different gods (called Tritheism), three ways God displays Himself to His creation (modalism), or that Christ is a creation (Arianism). Instead, a church should have the humility to admit that God is so unique that we cannot possibly explain how He is three persons, yet still one God, as displayed in the Bible.

Moreover, how a church understands the Holy Spirit matters. Some view Him as a person with equal power and majesty of Christ and the Father. Others believe the Holy Spirit is a synonym for God’s power (i.e. “the Holy Spirit” or “holy spirit”). 

Dig deeper: Who Is God?

Canon of Scripture

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

There are two areas we must ask about when it comes to what the Bible is. The first is whether it was divinely inspired by God or just a collection of human works. Second, we must ask if the Bible we have today has all the books it should. 

Regarding inspiration, this will impact how perfect we believe the teachings are. Paul is often accused of being sexist and homophobic, but we can only discount what he wrote if the Holy Spirit didn’t divinely inspire his words. And how we handle that will directly impact how we interpret, understand, and obey the rest of God’s word.

Regarding the books of the Bible (or the Canon of Scripture), most of us are familiar with the 66 books seen in the Protestant Bible. Yet people like Catholics have several more books than we do, and Martin Luther called the book of James an “epistle of straw” and may have questioned its divine inspiration.

Another thing worth our attention is how much a pastor uses God’s word in his sermons. If a sermon is 60 minutes long but only spends a few minutes actually looking at God’s word, it becomes evident that the sermon (and the church) is built on the pastor and not God’s word.

Dig deeper:

What Is the Bible?

How Did We Get the 66 Books of the Bible? Why Do Some Bibles Have More Books? (Part 1)

How Did We Get the 66 Books of the Bible? Why Do Some Bibles Have More Books? (Part 2)

Attributes of God

A church, and the individuals within it, should seek to embrace the full reality of who God is. It’s easy for us to over-emphasize one attribute or lessen another. Although no church will fully comprehend an infinite, perfect, and unique God, it’s nevertheless important that we not create excuses for the attributes we’re embarrassed by or forego those that don’t give us a God we like. Specifically, here are some attributes of God that can send a church down a dangerous path if they’re ignored or over-emphasized:

• Love – God can become a big softy or a heartless being of wrath
• Justice – He is either always looking to punish or He’s utterly blind to sin
• Holy – Reducing this makes God less than He is and more like us
• Mercy – We can either freely sin or we must spend every day trying to work for forgiveness
• Jealous – Either He won’t mind sharing us with our idols or He makes us afraid of enjoying the good things in His creation
• Unchanging – If God can change, learn, or improve, then we have no hope in what He’s promised

God is perfectly all of these things (and more). To make Him anything more or less than what He reveals in the Bible is to diminish the reality of our amazing God.

Dig deeper: 

Why Open Theism Just Doesn’t Work

Who Is God?

Is It Okay If I Don’t Understand God?

The balance of God and man’s goodness

What we believe about our inherent goodness has a direct impact on how we view God. Picture it like a balancing scale – the more we elevate ourselves, the lower God becomes. The better we are, the less necessary God is for our daily living. God becomes little more than a boost in the areas where we struggle, meaning we only need Him on the rare occasions where we need help. The better we think we are, the more we turn God into a better version of ourselves.

This can impact our lives as Christians, as well as why we need Jesus Christ in the first place. If people are inherently good, then sin doesn’t enslave us and humans aren’t completely depraved with no hope of pleasing God. Thus, Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t a full and necessary payment for the cost of our sin, but rather a means of helping us when we stumble.

Dig deeper: Am I a Good Person?

Acceptance of orthodoxy and heresy

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” (1 Timothy 6:20)

Orthodoxy can be understood as “beliefs that match what Christians have believed throughout history, and especially the early church.” Heresy, simply understood, is anything that significantly deviates from orthodox beliefs. 

For some, strict adherence to orthodoxy is important. Others may be comfortable with a church that challenges orthodox beliefs because they understand that while we have the same Holy Spirit as the early church fathers, our understanding has grown and matured because of the work done by those who came before.

However, there is a danger when we challenge or “improve” orthodoxy because we think new beliefs are better beliefs. Our culture has continually grown suspicious, even hostile, toward traditions and traditional beliefs. Churches with new takes on Christianity are attractive, but they ultimately compromise various aspects of accurate and responsible interpretation to be fresh and appealing.

Historically speaking, every cult and false teaching has begun by breaking with orthodoxy. People always have a new, exciting way to think about God, the person of Jesus Christ, salvation, or how to read certain parts of the Bible. However, it’s doubtful that God will reveal new information to us after 2,000 years. He may bring clarity or deeper understanding, but that is different from completely changing a historical belief because it feels outdated by modern standards.

To be very clear, there’s nothing inherently special about orthodoxy as though it was its own religion. Likewise, there’s nothing inherently wrong with departing from some aspects of orthodoxy if there is a clear, biblical reason for doing so. Orthodoxy is a safeguard that represents what Christians have agreed on for centuries, and any departure from it must be very certain that it’s not a move into unbiblical teaching or interpretation.

Dig deeper:

Was Jesus Just a Good Teacher?

My multi-part series on the Catholic Church

Pragmatism

“The ends justify the means.” 

All churches share a desire to get people in the door. Where they disagree is how that should happen. A church may stick to a classic method of evangelism by having individual members telling people about Christ and bringing them to church with them. Others may host occasional programs or do community outreach to get their name out. A recent trend has been to do giveaways, gimmicks, and high-budget sermon themes to draw in a crowd. These all speak to a level of pragmatism – how do they get people in the door, and how far is “too far”?

The most dangerous side of pragmatism is when numbers are the primary target. Churches will reduce sin into “ways we mess up” because they know people are less likely to be uncomfortable and more likely to keep attending. The most popular sermons are motivational speeches because people are more interested in improving themselves than learning from a thorough, exegetical explanation of God’s word. And these practices are justified by looking at the numbers and assuming that because the church is growing, they’re doing something right.

To be clear, pragmatism itself isn’t wrong. When pragmatism comes at the expense of truth and our call from Christ, we should be very aware that it’s only a matter of time before more compromises come in the pursuit of bigger numbers or a more acceptable religion.

Integration of politics

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:4)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Romans 13:1-2)

Christians are foreigners in any country they live in. They can be good citizens and participate in various policies that allow them to do good to their neighbors. However, our citizenship is in Heaven, and thus our identity and guidance are found in Jesus Christ.

A church should be our example of that. When a church makes a blanket promotion of a political party (and especially a political candidate), we must ask whether they’ve lost focus of their true objective in this world. Likewise, a church that calls its members to defy the government for political reasons, rather than because of laws that demand we disobey God, has made politics their identity.

To be clear, we should expect our church to discuss important topics like abortion or marriage. It’s when someone filters those topics through politics, not God’s word, that we should be concerned.

Dig deeper: 

Stand for Christ, Not Your Political Party

Christian Nationalism – The False Teaching We Can’t Ignore

Importance of the gospel

If the gospel is the most essential thing in a Christian’s life, it should be central to what a church does. The gospel is more than just “how to get saved,” but how the truth of Jesus Christ affects every area of our lives. The gospel impacts how we understand sin after salvation, our position before the Father, where we find hope, why we study the Bible, and our motivation for everything we do in life. 

Many of the topics discussed in this article really boil down to whether a church has lost sight of the gospel. Not just in terms of telling people about their need for Christ for salvation, but how and why we need Him for every moment of our lives. A church will always have something central to everything it does. If a church isn’t centered around the beauty and necessity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then what does it center around?

Dig deeper: 

What Happens to People Who Never Hear the Gospel?

Jesus, Salvation, and the Gospel (Part 2)

Is Christ Still Saving You?

Visit my topics page and check out the section “Chrisitan Living & Spiritual Maturity”

But what about…

This list is far from exhaustive, and I’ll likely update this article over time as I get feedback or realize things I’ve left off. However, there are some things that you won’t see on here, and I want to briefly explain why. 

• Music style: Hymns vs. modern worship, or any debate in between, ultimately boils down to preference as long as the lyrics are speaking truth and the music is chosen to drive worship to God, not an emotional experience
• Bible version: There are numerous factors that might influence a church’s preference on a Bible version, but no version is more holy or God-ordained than another
• Dress code: Assuming a church is concerned with holiness and purity, the level of formality in what people wear is about tradition vs. comfort
• Pastor’s likeability or personality: How much we like our pastor’s charisma or personality outside of biblical qualifications isn’t relevant how faithfully he handles the word of God, nor should it factor in our respect for the position God has placed him in

Before you leave your church

I want to be clear that I’m not advocating for a perfect church. Those who make the Bible the highest priority in their lives will eventually care about most, if not all, of the things I’ve discussed. However, we need to have the humility and wisdom to realize that we won’t find a perfect church that fully agrees with everything we do. Too many Christians spend years of their lives shopping for churches or just refuse to be part of a local church because no one is performing up to the standards they’ve set.

The things we’ve looked at are mostly the things that have defined various denominations over the years. But even within those, some things are more important than others. A church with a weak worship philosophy may not give its people a full view of God during worship, but a church that fully understands Calvinism or Arminianism will have some deep-seated beliefs that will have a massive impact on many other teachings.

At the same time, we also can’t discount the possibility of God having a mature Christian in a particular church to be His instrument in correcting an error. God’s ways are far too complicated for us to draw hundreds of lines on where we can or can’t be part of a single church. Instead, we must approach a church’s stance on these topics with wisdom and prayer. Some things may necessarily be a deal-breaker for one person, while another can see them as struggles in a church that is still accurately preaching the gospel. 

It’s even possible that God is keeping someone in a church to be His instrument in growing that church and turning them to the truth. It’s especially important for Christians in such a situation to understand that they won’t draw people to the truth with their hands in their pockets, their minds turned off, and their Bibles collecting dust. We all must understand why we believe what we believe, and disagreeing with our church is an excellent reminder of that. 

So please, don’t use this discussion as ammunition to express displeasure in a church. Talk to your church’s leaders, commit yourself to becoming an excellent student of God’s word so you can understand and defend your beliefs, and always seek God’s guidance as you work together with other imperfect people to understand truth.