Ask Your Preacher
Baptist: Attendance
Monday, April 15, 2019My wife is a member of a Baptist church. I have never been a member at any church. I hardly ever went, and if I did it was a different church every so often. Her father is the pastor there. I asked her the other day if maybe we could visit a different church and listen to some different preaching other than her father’s sometime. I only asked if we could do this like once every three months or so. She bluntly said, “NO!” I asked why, and she said, “I’m a member of my church, and I won’t go anywhere else.” I have to admit, this made me sort of upset. What’s the Bible’s take on this????
Sincerely,
The Un-Baptist Son-In-Law
Dear The Un-Baptist Son-In-Law,
The Bible says that you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12). Regardless of your wife’s choices, you must make it a point to seek out and find the truth. Not all churches are equal. As we have said to people in other posts, denominationalism is wrong. Baptist churches make Baptists, Lutheran churches make Lutherans, Catholic churches make Catholics, etc. You want to find a church that teaches the Bible, not manmade doctrines. There were no Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, etc. in Christ’s day… and that should stand as a warning to us about the dangers of adding things that Christ never intended. We shouldn’t add to God’s law nor subtract from it (Rev 22:18-19). We recommend you read “All For One” for more information about the blight of denominationalism.
You are right to want to look around and search for the truth (Lk 11:9). It is important that we worship God in a way that is both zealous and obedient to the truth (Jhn 4:24). Visit around, ask questions, and test the preaching of various congregations (1 Jn 4:1). Make it your goal to find the truth… not simply a congregation that is enjoyable to visit. Feel free to read “Finding A Church” and “Preacher Interrogation” to help arm yourself to ask the right questions and find a faithful congregation in your area. SB