How to Choose a Church

A church is a community of people that have been saved by Jesus Christ and have committed to gather together for worship and instruction, and to spread out to tell others about Jesus.

If you are reading this, it is probably because: 1) you are not a Christian or are a new Christian and are interesting in finding out more about Christianity, or 2) you are a Christian and are moving to a new area or find your current church departing from the Bible.

I can warn you from the beginning, you're not going to find a perfect church. They all have problems. But to find a good, solid, healthy church, be sure to look for the following things:

Principles

The foundation of a church is its teaching. The most important thing to check is that the church is true to and focuses on the gospel (see What is the Gospel?) and teaches directly out of the Bible. You will want to make sure that this church believes the Bible itself is the word of God—that means the Bible comes from God, and so it is the final authority, and every word of it is true.

At the church meeting, make sure they open up the Bible, read out of it, and that the message the speaker gives is based on explaining and applying what that they read. Avoid churches that just talk about philosophy, psychology, politics, and other things. The business of the church is to teach the Bible.

Practice

You should also pay attention to the people of the church. This is hard to evaluate on a first or second visit. But Jesus said his disciples would be known by their love for one another (John 13:35). In another place, the Bible says Christians are people who worship Jesus Christ and put no confidence in their own works (Phil 3:3).

Avoid a church where disobedience is ignored, where you hear gossip, see divisions, or hear an emphasis on "self-worth" instead of a focus on Christ's worth. Look for a church where the people are humble and are eager to talk about what Jesus did for their lives and in their lives.

Do not look for style or for your own tastes. The size is not very important either. You can have both of these but have a bad church.

Staying

If you find a church that is strong in principle (teaching the Bible) and strong in practice (living out the Bible), then you've found a good church. Do not keep "church-hopping" forever; this is "dating" the church.

If you are not a Christian yet, then you should stay there to keep hearing the gospel, ask them all your hardest questions, and commit your life over to Christ before you get involved in any activities. If you are a Christian, you should seek membership and commit yourself to that church, submit yourself to their leadership, and serve with all your heart!