Journey Into The Unknown, part 9

The “Unknown” is becoming known—at least it appears that way unless the Lord intervenes and leads elsewhere.  The service at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) this morning was a confirmation that we seem to be on the right path. You notice the tentative nature of that statement. This is, so far, not one of those instances in which the Lord plainly reveals His will for us. We'll start the church's series of new member classes on February 5th, and after that make the final decision.

Having had a very good conversation with the Senior Pastor, and getting our questions satisfactorily answered, the major impediment to our joining the church is that of denominational identity. I never imagined that I would be a member of anything but a Baptist church.  

Maybe I’ll end up something like what one of my former students said about herself.  She grew up a Methodist. She was marrying a Baptist, and she joined his church and was baptized according to the Baptist tradition. Afterwards she was firm in saying to me, “I just want you to know that I’m not a Baptist, I’m just a wet Methodist”.   I may become a member of a Presbyterian church, but will I ever be anything but a Baptist at heart? That part of the journey is yet to be revealed.

Still, I do appreciate what the Pastor said about the difference between their “essential” and “non-essential” doctrines. I heartily concur with all of their “essentials”. I can live with some difference of opinion on their “non-essentials”. In part 6 of this Journey, I mentioned five things I’m looking for in our next church home. One of them was “a place where everyone knows your name”, that is, a Christian family. And in part 8, I said this is a place where we already have some friends. That makes a big difference. 

It’s hard to make new “old friends”, so to go to a church where we already have some makes losing the weekly contact with the friends we made at our previous church a little easier. We still want to keep the bonds of friendship strong with our friends at our previous church; but we are also not naïve. We know we will have to be intentional about keeping them alive. Thankfully, some of those friends are also reaching out to us to keep our relationships strong.

In the end, though, all of the factors in post #6 will influence our decision on joining a church, not just friendships. If friendships were the only factor, we would not have started on this journey.

Interestingly, at least to me, as I look back at the factors listed in post #6, none of them were specific to a certain denomination. Much like many others I've come to know over the years, denominational labels are becoming less important to me. I've known genuine Christians from every Christian denomination over the years.

The core Christian doctrines are critical for me: what they call the "essentials" at CCPC. I've come to see that the place where some churches get off the track generally centers on what they teach about Jesus Christ.

If a church affirms the traditional doctrines about Jesus (as in the classic creeds of the church), other doctrines will usually fall in line. If a church denies certain core teachings about Jesus (such as His divinity or His bodily resurrection), other core doctrines fall apart as well.

Does that sound strange--that a "Christian" church will get off track concerning their teachings about Jesus? It sounded strange to me too when I experienced just that phenomenon. When talking about Jesus only as a teacher, a model for life, and as one we should "follow" and never talking about Him as "Savior" is the norm, one wonders what it is about that Jesus that one would worship.

It is clear from the Scriptures (see especially I Corinthians 15) that without a conviction that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, one's faith is in vain. As both Lindsey and I have often said, "If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, we might as well just be a member of some club like Rotary that does good deeds but doesn't require much else of you. Or, why not just get a tee time on Sunday morning instead of wasting it in a meaningless church service.

But if Jesus' resurrection was real...well, that makes giving Him my life the most meaningful thing I can do. That is exactly what I have done. I've given my life to Jesus Christ, and He has become my Savior and my Lord. That is what has given my life purpose, whether as a sailor, a student, a pastor, a Campus Minister, or even as a Realtor.

So, one thing is sure--the church which we will join will have very clear, traditional, Christian teachings about the core doctrines, and especially those about Jesus Christ. More to come about this after we've taken the classes.

Journey Into The Unknown, part 8

One never knows where a journey might take him, especially when the Lord is setting the itinerary. I still don't know whether the place we visited today will be an overnight stay, a short vacation, or a longer stop on the road to that unknown country.

It's now been four weeks since we started on this journey. Last week Lindsey and I met with the pastor of the church we likely will join--that longer stop mentioned above. It appears to meet the criteria I listed in post #6.

One of the positives of this church is that we already have friends there, and they have enthusiastically encouraged us to come and join them. That's one of the clues that a business, an organization, or a church is doing something right--do its customers or members talk about it in such a way that others start to think it might be the right place for them?

Before accepting someone as a member, this church requires attendance at a new members' class, agreement with the church's essential doctrines (while giving some latitude on "non-essential" doctrines: those that are important but not essential for salvation), and giving one's personal testimony to one of the elders of the church. Once we've been through the class and have made a decision, I'll post the name of the church.