A new believer asks: Which church?

[Michael Wrenn]

A couple of other threads inspired this one.

Suppose this scenario: A person accepts Jesus and does this in a non-church setting. The new believer then sets out to find a local church and/or denomination which follows most closely the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. What criteria does he/she use? How would you advise this person in their seeking such a church?

 

[billwald]

I would advise a city person to visit all Christian churches in their neighborhood. I would advise country people to visit the closest Christian churches first.

 

[Tom Butler]

I would send them to the nearest Baptist church. Now there's no perfect guarantee that this will be a perfect church, but the chances are pretty good that it will come close to Biblical teaching.

 

[Yeshua1]

I would send them to the nearest Baptist church. Now there's no perfect guarantee that this will be a perfect church, but the chances are pretty good that it will come close to Biblical teaching.

assuming that it is NOT a baptist church in name only, agree with you chances are closest to the Apostolic teaching of any church in town!

 

[The Biblicist]

A couple of other threads inspired this one.

Suppose this scenario: A person accepts Jesus and does this in a non-church setting. The new believer then sets out to find a local church and/or denomination which follows most closely the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. What criteria does he/she use? How would you advise this person in their seeking such a church?

They need teaching and the command is to "make disciples" and therefore I would set about teaching them the truth in a contextual manner and then ask them to simply go prayerful study the scriptures that I gave and come back if they have questions.

IF they are a child of God, God is dwelling inside them and will lead them in their study of the scriptures and will bear witness with their spirit and with the scriptural data which combined will produce a confirmation of conviction within them.

 

[padredurand]

A couple of other threads inspired this one.

Suppose this scenario: A person accepts Jesus and does this in a non-church setting. The new believer then sets out to find a local church and/or denomination which follows most closely the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. What criteria does he/she use? How would you advise this person in their seeking such a church?

Pick him up on Sunday morning on the way to the church you attend. :wavey:

 

[annsni]

Pick him up on Sunday morning on the way to the church you attend. :wavey:

I like this answer! But if you could not do this (they don't live near you), I would check out some churches with them. Find a few and let them choose. If it were near me, I'd have a number of churches that are solid that I could recommend. Some are Baptist, some are non-denom but all are great.

 

[Michael Wrenn]

I've enjoyed all of your posts. Good answers.

 

[evangelist-7]

After making sure that when he "accepted" Jesus he actually was born again,
advise him to pray to Father God in the name of His Son Jesus Christ
for the answer to which church he should attend.

And he should keep on praying until he is satisfied that he has God's direction.

Advise him to "follow the peace" ... he must have lots of peace over the answer.
(Following the peace will disqualify any answer he may get from Satan.)

What a great way for him to begin his walk with the Lord!
.

 

[jaigner]

A church that preaches the gospel and is egalitarian.

 

[Yeshua1]

A church that preaches the gospel and is egalitarian.

How would you define "Gospel and Egalitarian" though?

 

[jaigner]

How would you define "Gospel and Egalitarian" though?

I assume you mean "Gospel" and "egalitarian."

Gospel: Redemption of the cosmos through the work of Christ, who is the only source of salvation.

Egalitarian: Allows men and women to both follow God's call and gifting in their lives in any capacity.

 

[billwald]

Paul's true good news was egalitarian - Jew or gentile, bond or free, male or female, we are all "one," equal "In Christ."

 

[jaigner]

Paul's true good news was egalitarian - Jew or gentile, bond or free, male or female, we are all "one," equal "In Christ."

Big, big thumbs up.

 

[annsni]

Paul's true good news was egalitarian - Jew or gentile, bond or free, male or female, we are all "one," equal "In Christ."

Yep - we are all equal in Christ - but he didn't say that now the slave should rule his master....

 

[Wittenberger]

This is what I would recommend:

After confirming that he has believed in Christ as his Lord and Savior, and has truly repented of his sins, I would take him to the nearest lake, river or ocean and baptize him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to fulfill Christ's command. I would immerse him unless there is no availability of a large enough body of water (he is in prison, for example, serving a life term) to immerse him, then I would baptize him by pouring as mentioned in the Didache as a "second best" mode of baptism.

Next I would read through the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and Romans with him. I would not give him any denominational push one way or the other. After reading Scripture I would pray with him and ask God to show him which church is best for him. I would also give a denominationally neutral book that lists the beliefs of the largest denominational groups in Christianity: RCC, EOC, Lutheran, Reformed, and Baptist. I would make sure that there is no bias towards any one denomination. The book would list each denomination's doctrinal views and criticisms of the other groups from their own literature.

I would warn him not to listen or talk with the cults: LDS, JWs, the Ron Hubbard people, etc.

I would invite him to visit my church with me, but only after he has done all the above.

 

[Salty]

I would advise a city person to visit all Christian churches in their neighborhood. I would advise country people to visit the closest Christian churches first.

Remember, Catholics, Mormons, JW's all consider themselves "Christian"


If a person lives too far away to pick up, there is this little invention (by Al Gore) called the INTERNET, that could help us find a church for the new convert

 

[Tom Butler]

I am a Baptist by conviction. I believe that as a general rule, Baptists hold the truth regarding the way of salvation. the truth regarding baptism and have the correct ecclesiology. In short, Baptists are right on just about everything.

Therefore, I will seek to persuade any new convert to my way of thinking. It would be a dereliction of my discipleship duty if I did not point him in the direction of truth and steer him away from error.

Those of other persuasions have the same duty.

 

[Salty]

I am a Baptist by conviction. I believe that as a general rule, Baptists hold the truth regarding the way of salvation. the truth regarding baptism and have the correct ecclesiology. In short, Baptists are right on just about everything.

Therefore, I will seek to persuade any new convert to my way of thinking. It would be a dereliction of my discipleship duty if I did not point him in the direction of truth and steer him away from error.

Those of other persuasions have the same duty.

Unfortunately, many do not believe that way. They will simply say to a new convert, "whatever makes you happy".
Yes, doctrine does matter!

 

[Michael Wrenn]

Yep - we are all equal in Christ - but he didn't say that now the slave should rule his master....

No, he said that there was no distinction in Christ.