Someone emailed me this week with a really good question. She says that she goes to one church on Sundays and another on Wednesdays. Neither of them “feels right” to her, and she had just received an invitation to come to The Orchard Church. She was conflicted, and didn’t know what to do about it.
I emailed her a response back, and I thought I would share my thoughts on this with you.
First of all, I never really liked the whole “church hopping” thing. I don’t think that is good for you. I am pretty sure it isn’t God’s plan for you, either. See, I am convinced that God creates each and every one of us with a specific purpose… A specific way that YOU will function in the Body of Christ. He couples that with a gift (or gifts) to be used intentionally for HIM. It is your ministry… The way you impact the KINGDOM. If you are a follower of Christ, YOU have a purpose… And it is all about HIM.
Your purpose in The Kingdom, and your gift is to be used as part of the Body of Christ, otherwise known as The Church. This is where we get tripped up. We think we “find a church that we like” and we “go there” to “get fed,” or whatever. With American consumerism, it is easy to fall into this trap of thinking.
The reality is that GOD places you into a local body on purpose. Your church experience shouldn’t be based on what “feels right” to you, but on where GOD has CALLED you to be. Has God called you to the church you are in now? How do you know? What is your ministry there? How is HE using you among those people?
If you aren’t in a church now, please, BY ALL MEANS check out The Orchard… But before you join our church, or any church… Seek God’s will on it. He won’t put you in a place by accident. He wants the BEST for you… And HIS BEST is always when HE is bringing out HIs best in YOU.
1 Corinthians 2:7 (Message)
God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.
Romans 12:3-8 (NLT)
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.