a few weeks ago, Pastor Peter led us in a discussion on how to choose a church. his challenge to us was “what question do we ask ourselves about trying to find a church?” the point he wanted to make was many times we ask ourselves, “is this church right for me?” when the question that we should really be asking ourselves is “am i right for this church?” he made a lot of comparisons of picking a church to a dating relationship, where we so often ask ourselves “is this person right for me?” when we also need to be asking ourselves “am i right for this person?”
i really appreciated peter’s challenge to us that night. it is so easy to make my life all about me. it is so easy to make any decision all about me and what i want. before i make this a quest that everyone should consider serving a church rather than choosing a church, i am so guilty of this. peter asked us to read about spiritual gifts in I Cor. 12 where the key phrase is that “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (I Cor. 12:7) So in the end, the ways that God has gifted each believer individually is for the purpose of service.
i am reminded of Jesus as the ultimate example. Jesus said “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. “(Mk 10:45) so in the end, it is really about serving, not about being served. Jesus made His life about serving others, showing the ultimate example when He gave His life as a sacrifice for those who would believe in Him as Savior.
it is so easy to make life all about me. this world of instant everything is not a way to teach us that there is more to life than just ourselves, but that there is a bigger purpose to live for. but in the scope of picking one’s spiritual family, i was grateful for peter’s challenge to us. the idea of picking a church is something i will soon have to wrestle with upon the completion of my M.Div and it must be met with much prayer and consideration, but also the reminder that life is not about what i want, but ultimately where God desires that I serve Him.
