Are You Listening to the Church?
Have a fear of COVID, a dislike of masks, the ease of online church, or electronic resources, distracted you from paying attention to church? I’m talking about your church, your local church. Have these things pried you away from church, caused you to look for your spiritual nourishment elsewhere? If so, you have a problem. The problem is that God intends for you to be nourished in your local church.
Oh, and before I continue, I presume that you actually have a local church. If you don’t, we have bigger things to talk about. Maybe you should learn more about how the church is Spiritual Therapy that You Desperately Need.
Simply put, here is my contention: you need to be listening, first and foremost, to your local church. You need to pay attention, learn from, and be nourished primarily by the local congregation of Christians that you attend, under biblically qualified leadership. There is no substitute for this.
What I don’t mean is that you should listen to your local church, and then go somewhere else to truly get fed spiritually. No doubt about it, there are some wonderful men of God who have written wonderful books, and who have preached glorious messages. By all means, listen to them. But don’t place the emphasis on them. Don’t go to them to get the bulk of your spiritual feeding. That needs to occur in your local church.
Why am I so concerned about this?
- Because the leadership of your local church is directly responsible for your soul (Hebrews 13:17). They are the ones who are responsible for you, rather than those who write great books or who preach to big crowds.
- Because you are commanded to submit to these local leaders (Hebrews 13:17) and to the local church (Ephesians 5:21). That implies that they are a major source of influence in your life. But you don’t have the same obligation toward those teachers outside the church. No need to get wierded out by the idea of submitting to the church and local leaders: it just refers to the idea of submission to godly, biblical, Christ-honoring advice and direction.
- Because God has placed the emphasis on the local church (Ephesians 1:23), has given authority to it (Matthew 18:17-18), and has promised to be present with it (Matthew 18:19-20). None of these promises are given to your favorite preacher or radio host.
Of course, when I speak about the church leadership being responsible for you, I need to clarify that you certainly have some responsibility as well. The shepherd guides you to the water, but you still have to drink. They need to teach you the Bible, but you are still responsible to obey it and read it yourself. You must study it and even compare what they say with what the Bible says.
What if you attend a church where the preaching is…decent…but it isn’t moving like you enjoy? What if the messages are dull and the people are a bit apathetic? Don’t despair – God can still use that church in your life. Labor to get as much value from it as you can. Remember that if God has placed you there, he has a purpose for you. Pay close attention, and gather up the truth, as much as you can.
Now, for some of you, this is just a reminder to keep doing what you are doing. Some of you might be convicted that you haven’t been doing this, and I hope that you will begin. But some of you might say, ‘Oh no, there is no way that this congregation or those pastors can adequately feed me in my spiritual life!’ What then?
Essentially, you have two options:
First, you need to seriously question yourself. Is it really the fault of the church, or are you just a headstrong sheep? Get the advice of some other wise, mature Christians. Just because the shepherd, or the little flock that you are in, is not what you prefer, doesn’t mean that it is bad for you. It might be just the place that you need to be.
Second, if the church really is that bad (because they are spiritually immature, weak, or have serious sin problems) then you need to find – and commit yourself to – a church that you can grow in – and be committed to.
Remember: neither online church, books, podcasts, personal Bible reading, nor a Bible study with friends is any substitute for the local church. The local church ought to be near the center of our spiritual lives.
