5 Characteristics of the Church

In the last blog post, I wrote about the Church not being a building and how Jesus never called us to a building and how we could be doing more.

Today, I want to focus on what I believe the characteristics of the Church should be.

Matthew 7:15-20 teaches us that we will be able to identify false teachers by their fruits so it is reasonable to believe that we will be able to identify the Church by its fruits as well.

Galatians teaches us the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). These are amazing qualities and will definitely help us identify the Church because if we are the Church we should be living lives that highlight these characteristics. However, for today I want to focus on some specific things I feel should be identifying markers for the Church today.

1. Serving Others Instead of Serving Self:

In my opinion, a Church that is serving God will undoubtedly be a Church that is serving others. This goes for activities outside of the church as well as inside. In the past few years, I have grown somewhat frustrated with the notion that the Church is designed to serve those who are already inside. A Church that is serving God will be looking for opportunities to get outside of their comfort zone and will not be afraid to engage their community where it matters.

If we are truly looking to become the Church as opposed to simply attending the Church then we will not be afraid to get outside of our buildings and start serving those around us.

2. Inclusivity

This is a tough one because we live in such a temperate social climate where everyone feels a need to be right. Here is the thing, Christ called us to love. That is simple, He even said that it was right up there with loving God. As Christians, we live in a sad time in which we are known more for what we are against than what we are for. If we truly want to be a Church that is looking to bring Christ to others, then this must change. We must start living lives that exemplify what we stand for instead of what we stand against.

In order to truly be the Church that Christ called us to be then, we need to open our doors as wide as we can and stop making others feel unwelcomed.

That is not to say, that we condone sinful lifestyles or that we do not talk about sin. We still have to preach the gospel but we cannot try to control who is in the seats to receive the message.

My frustration mentioned earlier comes to a point here as well. When we as Christians allow our personal preferences to make others feel unwelcome or uncomfortable then we must consider how we are presenting those preferences.

Many times we treat personal preference issues as if they are biblical issues and in doing so we create a very bad precedent and may actually send a message that we believe that these preferences are scriptural in some way.

Here are just a few myths that some churches have allowed personal preference to override spiritual truth:

1. This translation of the Bible is the only one that Christians should use.

2. You have to dress a certain way to come to church. Jesus wants you in your “Sunday Best”

3. God helps those who help themselves

4. If your music is not like ours, then it is not holy.

5. You cannot come to church if you are living in sin.

Those are just a few and maybe I will dive into those in another blog but for today I will leave that hornet’s nest alone. The bottom line is that we have to put our love for others above our own personal preferences in order to bring them into our congregations so that they can be introduced to the Word of God.

3. Charity

This is one of those areas that really should be common sense but sometimes is overlooked. A church that is serving God should be a Church that focuses on charity. In many ways, this falls in with serving the needs of others before our own. When it comes to being known by our works, what better way is there for a Church to be known than through their charity.

Who are they serving? Where is the money going? Do they sponsor missions? Are they involved in local charity groups?

Being a Southern Baptist I am very familiar with Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon and know that most SB churches support those offerings every year. What I did not consider until I got older was the question of what else is the Church doing? Supporting those offerings is very important and serve a great need for International and U.S. missions but outside of those two offerings every year, are we really getting engaged in spreading God’s word and making the world we live in our mission field.

4. Action

The church as commanded by Jesus is a church of action. The Great Commission tells us to “Go”. Now some translations say that is As you go, and others simply say Go, either way, the command is the same Go and Make Disciples. Jesus did not tell the disciples to build a church and then stay inside and just talk to each other about God’s love and how lucky they are to have it. Jesus said to Go. A church that is serving God will be a Church of Action and community involvement. The Church should be known by their fruits and this is where the rubber meets the road. We can sit in our pews and talk about the Lord and we can give our tithes and offerings but what are we doing in our lives that present a fruit that is glorifying to God.

The Church should have a SERVICE over services mentality. In saying that, I am saying that we should be focused less on the services we hold and more on the service we are providing. I am a firm believer that we need fewer services and more ministry. Instead of creating more and more services at our church buildings why do we not focus on creating more opportunities to GO.

5. Gathering Together

Now, this point may seem counter to everything else I have said on the surface but we have to consider what our instruction is.

Hebrews encourages us to not neglect to meet together. This is important because it goes on to say that in meeting together we are to encourage one another. Even more so as the Day draws closer.

If we are going to be a Church of action and truly become the Church of God then we cannot do it alone. We must continue meeting together so that we can rely on each other and build each other up because when we use our lives as God’s mission field then we will face hardships and trials and without meeting together and encouraging each other we are destined to fail.

In this meeting together we must remember all the other stuff and not begin to focus on the building we are meeting in or worrying ourselves over what those guys who are meeting down the street are doing and trying to keep up with them. We need to open our doors and meet. Keep It Simple. Meet, hear the word of God, encourage each other and GO be the Church and stop merely attending church.