Chapter 6
Attending church for the wrong reasons, 6 examples

With how The Holy Bible commands all Christians to:
“Test everything. Hold on to the good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
I just want to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads me and no matter what it costs me.
Do you feel the same way?
For that is what Our Lord demands of us.
``If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.'' (Matt. 16:24).
"and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (Matt 10:38).
Is this what you desire? As I tell many people I speak with, Catholic theology comprises the verses not yet underlined in their personal Bible. It's a big book and one cannot take a single verse and make an entire theology/religion out of it. One must always look at what ELSE Christ taught or what ELSE the Apostle Paul taught. Context is the key. The Holy Scriptures must be read and interpreted in the same spirit in which they were written. I hope you agree.
I often ask Christians why they attend their current church. For there are many verses in the Holy Bible not used at their churches that might change their view of what the Apostles really taught. Below are 3 powerful Biblical reasons why Protestants should reject the theology of their current church. The Holy Scriptures tells us:
“Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no dissension among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment.” (1 Cor 1:10)
It is God's intent that Christians be " united in one mind and judgment" on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, many people go to church, or "a church" for many difference reasons.
7 Reasons Christians go to church
1. Many go because it is all about them. They go to be entertained or to get a spiritual warm fuzzy or to walk out feeling good about themselves. And if the church does not entertain them or is "boring" they shop for a more entertaining one.
2. Some go for primarily social reasons. A chance to talk to old friends and to meet new one’s or just to be seen as a "Christian." The social element dominates the experience.
3. For others it is primarily to gain business contacts and network, or because their job is somehow associate with the church, and leaving this church would affect their job in someway.
4. Still others because of the kids programs. And if these programs disappeared, they would "church shop" to find a parish with comparable or better programs.
5. Many go primarily because the pastor is charismatic or a good speaker, and if the pastor left so would they, to church shop again.
6. And others still, because they are new Christians and have never been anywhere else and do not know the difference.
Are any of these reasons the "primary" reason you attend a specific church?
Yet none of the above reasons for going to a specific church have anything to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are self-centered reasons not Christ-centered reasons.
7. And finally there are those who attend a church or The Church because in their heart of hearts, they are convinced it, and only it is teaching the One Faith, the One Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Apostles to Christ's infant Church. And it is in this Church that they worship God as they are commanded to do. "There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:4) They attend Church "primarily" to worship God, not to worship themselves or their kids or their social circle, but to worship Almighty God. Again, the primary focus is on Christ, not on themselves.
The Old Testament Jews went to the Temple first and foremost to worship God, not primarily to feel good about themselves or to be entertained. It was not about them, it was about worshipping Almighty God. 1st century Christians gathered also to worship and praise Christ. It was not about being entertained, or about skits or kids programs or live bands with jumbo-tron screens, or even walking out with a warm fuzzy, it was about worshiping God Incarnate. For 1st century Christians, the Church was not a mere inspirational social club. It was Christ centered not self-centered.
As CS Lewis stated over 50 years ago in his classic book Mere Christianity , The only reason one should embrace a particular church is if it is True. Not because of the 6 reasons above. If one desires to be true to our Lord Jesus Christ, the only reason to attend any church is if it is what his Apostles taught. I hope you agree. If you don't, then you are free to do and believe anything and everything under the sun for truth does not matter. Or more conveniently, your truth differs from everyone else's truth, and truth is a private matter. In essence Truth is relative. This is not a Christian Gospel, it is the human secularist gospel.
Modern Christian churches today have become mere inspirational social clubs with a watered down Christianity that does not accurately reflect the teachings of the Apostles to Christ's early Church. And if you examine them closely, modern Protestantism does not even reflect the teachings of their own first Protestants in the 16th century, the men who were supposed to reform the Church of God. How could the Apostles have taught your church's distinctive teachings if the first Protestants didn't even teach them 400+ years ago? Did Christ's Gospel change? Did Christ change? Doesn't Scripture tell us that: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings." Hebrews 13:8-9 How did Christ's Gospel change then for your church ? For it teaches a gospel not taught before the last few hundred years? How do you rationalize this? Have you tested this conundrum? “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 It is on this point that I would like to speak with you. If you attend church for any of the above 6 reasons, this letter will most likely be meaningless for your motives for attending church in the first place are not primarily focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But if your motives are sincere and you do desire to embrace the One true Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter where it leads you and no matter what it costs you, then test your current belief system as the Holy Bible commands, test it for apostolicity. For if the Apostles did not teach your pastor’s distinctive theology, nor anyone else in the first millennium (nor even his own Protestant reformers) how could it be the teachings of Jesus Christ?
“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
And if the Apostles did not teach his ideas and write them into the Holy Bible, they are by definition, not Biblical. How can they be? There is but One Faith in Christianity, not 2 and not 20,000. One, just as the Holy Scriptures tell us:
"There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:4
Why do you really go to church? Or a better question is: Why do you reject “The Church,” the Church Christ commissioned in Matt 16:16-19, the Church the Holy Bible calls:
"The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim 3:15 .
Either it is or it isn’t. Either the Gates of Hell prevailed against Christ’s Church as your current belief system mandates or they didn’t. What would a Bible Believing Christian believe?
"And I say that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it, I give you the keys to kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and what ever you loosen on earth will be loosened in Heaven." Matt 16:16-19.