There are those who love to shop. "Shop till
you drop" is their motto. These are the ones who are shopping
before daylight on the so-called black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving).
They are the ones who very frugally inspect the sale papers for
clearance items and the like. Often they will ban together and
tease one another, and, in all good fun, boast about a certain
deal on a certain item they bought that they just could not live
without. Others, usually men, shop with a certain disregard for
sales and clearances and such, knowing exactly what they want
when entering a store and stopping to look at nothing else. Whether
very frugal or not so economical, most people in our society find
it very difficult to pilgrim through this life without shopping
at least for food, clothes, homes, etc.
Most, usually in their thirties, often earlier
or even much later for some, reach a point when spiritual ideals
begin to surface in their thinking. "Shall we go to church?"
"Should we go?" Then, inevitably, "Where should
we go?" At this point, friends and family members who attend
various churches will often extend invitations. The "church
shopping" has now begun. The family may attend several different
churches, comparing qualities, programs, preachers, etc. The husband
may ask the wife, "Which did you like the best?" She,
in turn asks him his opinion. We must commend a family for wanting
to go to church, for Jesus died for the church, says Paul, "Feed
the church of God which He purchased with His own blood"
(Acts 20:28). Similarly, he wrote, "Husbands, love your wives,
just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it"
(Eph. 5:25).
Church shopping should not be relegated to what
you like or what I like, but, rather, to what God likes; more
rather, "What does God, in His Word, authorize?" God's
Word is our "lamp and light" (Psalm 119:105) given by
God to guide us through this life, an eternal roadmap which leads
to heaven. We who live today are bound to the New Testament as
our guide and rule. The Old Testament, though important for "our
learning and admonition" (Rom. 15:4), has been nailed to
the cross (Col. 2:14) and is no longer valid for men now living.
The New Testament is the "perfect law of liberty" (Jas.
1:25), even the "words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
One who is "church shopping" must look into the New
Testament!
The New Testament contains many descriptions of
the church, and many of these will not be noticed in many present
day denominations. For example, the church of the Bible was described
in such terms as the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16), the church
of God (1 Cor. 1:2), the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), the body
of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23, Col. 1:18, Eph. 4:4), etc.; not by Baptist,
Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, etc. Let us find a church with
a Biblical name. Secondly, the church used the Bible for its only
creed (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:3). Thirdly, the church worshipped
on the first day of every week (Sunday). Also, that worship consisted
of praying (1 Thess. 5:17), singing, without instruments of music
(Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16-17), preaching (doctrine) (Acts 2:42), giving
(1 Cor. 16:1-2), and partaking of the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7).
Fourthly, the church taught a proper plan of salvation, not a
perverted "faith only, grace only" plan. The plan included
belief (Mk. 16:16), repentance (Acts 17:30; Lk. 13:3), confession
(Mt. 10:32-33), and baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21).
Those who are church shopping would do well to
visit the church of Christ and obey the Gospel and worship God
properly until death (Rev. 2:10). 69 1/2 East Thistle Dr., New
Martinsville, WV 26155.