Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Six Sure Signs You Picked the Wrong Church

Six Sure Signs You Picked the Wrong Church

Last updated on: February 23, 2016 at 2:15 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Six Sure Signs You Picked the Wrong Church 2016-02-23T02:15:29-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I learned about bad churches by talking to students. I had to do so, because I had wonderful pastors.*

My dad is a great pastor and he was in charge of my church life all of my growing up. Pastor George Osborne, the other notable man of God from my childhood, is a man of wit, brilliance, and holiness. When I moved to California, I had a pastor who ended up going through so much persecution for the Faith that I believe it destroyed his health and killed him. Father Michael Trigg was a saintly man. My present pastor is Father Richard Petranek who is tough, godly, and visionary. If he wasn’t a Chicago Bears fan, then he might be perfect, but he is from Chicago so we forgive him.

No church is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes and we should judge anybody, especially pastors, with the mercy we hope to receive. The Church was formed on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and nothing can defeat the true Church of Christ.

For every church where the true grail is lifted at communion, there are places where strange fire and a false grail brings death and destruction to the people of God. Here are six signs you may have chosen . . . badly that I have gathered from years of talking to students. The_Bible_panorama,or_The_Holy_Scriptures_in_picture_and_story(1891)_(14598407958)

Your church has or is contemplating getting a compound or forms a virtual compound.

There must be someone who builds a little Christian Utopia who is not whack-a-doodle or who does not become a little tyrant, but I am unaware of this place. If you are cut off from anyone “outside” the “community,” you live in a virtual compound. Just because there are no walls doesn’t mean there is no compound. Church is great, but if your church tries to be your whole life . . . or control your whole life . . . that “church” is overstepping the boundaries set by God. Flee.

Your church has a leader who is only “accountable” to a group he controls.

If your pastor has “oversight” from family members and best friends, then run. A good pastor has strong leadership in the church and people outside the church who can check bad behavior.

Your church publishes reams of books, videos, or other promotional items centered on the pastor.

Beware the church where the pastor is the center of a conglomerate built on personality.

You find it hard to find out what everyone is paid.

The more transparent the budget, the better the church. Pastors work hard, I know that from watching! They should be paid for their labor and their families should thrive, but nobody (good) goes into the ministry to get rich. A church should strive to pay, a pastor as well as the local elementary school principal. No church should watch their pastor grow personally rich on the Gospel.

Maybe if more of us could say “silver and gold have I none,” we would be able to say “rise up and walk.”

Criticism from “outsiders” is treated unfairly.

Nobody likes criticism. I don’t enjoy it. The openness of a church to hear criticism is the mark of a good ministry. I watched my dad listen to critics, sometimes change, but always act reasonably. He did not become paranoid or blame church problems on “outsiders.” Christians are sometimes ridiculed, harassed, or treated with a double standard. A good church does not justify her own bad behavior based on the unfairness of the critics.

“We might do x, but they do super bad stuff!”

This is no defense, but you will hear it in a bad church.

Frequent sermons on “murmuring” and “complaining.”

I grew up in the church and believe me, there are people that just cannot be pleased. The children of Israel did complain against Moses and God did tell them to quit. However, here is a general rule of thumb: we are not the children of Israel and our leaders are not Moses leading us through the wilderness. I have seen a pastor come to a congregation in gentleness to dialog about complaints that were not justified. That is a good thing.

We should stop whining.

However, I have seen such a sermon preached two or three times in forty-three years of church. If you are in a church where people are always telling the congregation to “unify” around the leader . . . you may have a problem church.

Think about it. If you cannot remember a time when a complaint was heard and direction changed, time to find a new home.

The difficulty, of course, is that if we found the perfect church our joining would ruin it. When we look at “bad churches,” we must ask ourselves as laity:

Do I wall myself off from accountability? Do I check in with a spiritual advisor?

Do I have any spiritual authority in my own life? Do I ask my pastor questions and take his views seriously?

Do I care only about my business and not the health and financial welfare of my church?

Is my pastor’s family going hungry while I feast? What do my pastor’s kids get for Christmas? Would I like my kids to live in the pastor’s house?

Do I go out of my way to be critical? At the same time, are we refusing to talk about hard church issues to keep the peace? Am I in dialog?

Good churches have members in dialog with leadership.

At the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles, the Mother of God, and many unnamed souls. You and I would have been one of the “unnamed souls.” We have the Holy Spirit of God. We are not called to preach, heal, or govern the church, but we are called to live spritiual lives. If we see a bad situation, we should help. If we see something good, we should praise it.

We must strive to live in the community, the church of God, formed at Pentecost.

___________

*In fact, it was a bar I did not think I could meet myself!

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

February 21, 2016

Under the Plane Tree: Where Desire Meets Power

Next Post

February 23, 2016 Don't Give Up Your Education to a Puppy Monkey Baby School

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: 3 John commends Diotrephes for his hospitality and love for the brethren.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »