Finding a church that supports raising your family, nurtures your spiritual growth, and provides a community where you can share your God-given talents requires careful consideration. I regularly receive calls and emails from people seeking church recommendations. Sometimes it’s a pastor whose family is moving away or a church kid headed to college. Other times it’s a believer who’s exhausted by the search process and looking to save time. Most of the time, I hear from people who want a certain type of church.
The conversation starts with: “Do you know of any churches that are ___ and have ___ in the ___ area?” Fill in those blanks with what’s important, add your location, and your search is defined. The nature of my ministry allows me to travel extensively and serve across a broad section of Baptist churches. I can usually be more helpful than a Google Maps search. Yet I still find myself saying that the only church I have personal knowledge of is an hour away.
I agree that proximity to the church you plan to join is important. One cannot attend faithfully and serve properly from a distance. I would even advocate making some concessions in your church search to be closer to home. Church is more than a place we sit for an hour or two on Sunday morning. We are part of that body, and the body doesn’t function properly when members attend only occasionally. No, you don’t have to live across the street, but you do need to be available.
It’s not uncommon for people to drive 30 minutes or even an hour to get to work each day. But could you make that trip twice on Sunday? Could you make the hour-long trip to church after work on Wednesday? How about Saturday morning for a prayer breakfast? Or Tuesday night for a committee meeting? These are questions that need to be considered.
What do we do in this Laodicean church age, when “lukewarm” churches abound? Are we consigned to suffer a nearly dead church because of proximity?
While preaching in Montana, I met a deacon who drove nearly two hours to church. I asked the pastor, “How can a deacon live that far away and still have any ‘deac’ left in him?” He said the man never missed a service and made hospital visits; he was the best deacon he had ever had. Out West in Big Sky country, it is common to drive an hour or more between towns. Baptist churches are often hours apart. He said this is the sacrifice you make to live out here.
That is the gist of this little article. Is a church alive worth the drive? Is it worth the sacrifice to be an active part of a thriving ministry? Or do we settle for the old church next door?
I know what you are thinking. You should join the walking-dead church next door and bring it back to life! Pour your life into the old country church and be part of the positive change! I hear you, and as a preacher engaged in that line of ministry, I know that reviving a dead church ain’t that easy. If the Lord isn’t in it, they will never come back to life.
When your two kids are the only kids in Sunday school, it can be hard to drag them in each week. A congregation of cold shoulders is hard to introduce your friends to. Shallow sermons and off-key special music don’t get easier to listen to over time. When your wife isn’t even allowed to wipe off the tables after a fellowship, that vibrant church looks closer and closer. With every “Thanks for the idea, but we will keep doing things our way,” they suck a little more life out of you.
Maybe I’m being too pessimistic. I have seen a young, zealous pastor and a few new members heat up a lukewarm church. I have been that young pastor a time or two. I have also driven to the next county to be part of a thriving work of God. I am driving right past five Baptist churches to attend our sending church. It is worth every minute we spend behind the wheel.
I have many stories of families who moved to a new area and found that the nearest biblically sound church was in the opposite direction from their home. If your spiritual walk is important to you, put your church search before your house search. We live in an age when a Baptist church sign out front is no indicator of what goes on inside. So do a little homework and seek a suitable place near work and worship.
So how does someone decide to sacrifice their “church wish list” to worship close to home? Or to sacrifice their time driving to and from a church that checks all the boxes? This is really a matter of personal conviction, based on each individual’s situation. While I have no clear-cut answer, there are a few things to consider in this process.
Bible doctrine is more important than a few hokey church practices. Are you hearing the truth from the pulpit? If so, overlook some nonessentials. Is the nearby church friendly? Do they love the lost and their fellow believers? Love covers a multitude of transgressions. Could you join and worship there without thinking about all the things you need to change about them?
That is often the key. Remember, you are joining them to take part, not to reform them to your standards. If you can’t worship the Lord in the church as she is, it probably won’t work out in the future. A church that is alive is probably worth the drive for you. If you can overlook a few hiccups at the church next door, then welcome home!
