BY TONY HOSS
With the thousands of churches in the world, how do I find the right one?
In the world today there are many churches; each one claims to be right with God. There is no doubt that many of those churches do good works in the community. Most of these churches attract good and honest people as members. The question is how these can be wrong if they are filled with good people who are doing good things. Why would anyone ever criticize such a situation?
The problem with recognizing what is right and wrong about a church is that most people look at churches from a secular point of view. If we are to please God we simply do not have this liberty. According to the scriptures we are to worship and serve God daily by following the patterns and laws He has set forth within the sacred pages of the Bible.
While it is not wrong to do the many good deeds people, it is wrong to do them while replacing, changing, or ignoring God’s law. Many churches and individuals who do such are wrong. These act as if God will simply overlook such actions. God will not overlook mankind’s defiant disrespect and disobedience to His Word. As we worship and live for God we must seek to follow His will.
To answer the question we first must understand that God hates religious division. This is clearly seen in (1 Corinthians 1). Jesus himself also prayed for unity among those who believe in Him (John 17:21). Knowing that God does not approve of religious division, it is proper for man in his religious pursuit to work diligently for total unity among all religious people. However, this can only be achieved when men decide to put away all their philosophies and vain teachings that are opposed to the Word of God (Col. 2:8). It should be the goal of all men to eliminate religious division and thus uniting all men under one banner. That banner is the Son of God and only the son of God.
Second we must realize that truth cannot be both right and wrong at the same time. This is what most religions would have us to believe. They would say you believe your way and we will believe our way and we will all get to the same destination (heaven). Even a child can understand the fallacy in this type of reasoning. Thus, we must conclude that the religion that practices what God says and eliminates the desires and want of men over God is the right religion. We should come to understand that the only religion that has the approval of God today is the religion that God himself has authored via His Book {i.e., the Bible}.
Next week we will continue to consider this question giving answers from God’s Word.
(Tony Hoss is minister at Centerview Church of Christ, Elizabethton. He can be contacted at 423-737-2287 or by e-mail at: tmagho1@comcast.net)