I was recently asked the question, “How can I identify a Spirit-filled church?”
In itself it’s a good question. There are so many churches today that choosing one is like choosing food from a vast smorgasbord. There’s something for everyone no matter what his preferences may be. There are even plenty of “churches” for those who don’t believe the gospel. But every faithful Christian wants to be in a church where the Holy Spirit is powerfully at work. Finding one can be challenging.
However, I fear that, in today’s ecclesiastical climate, the question reveals an inclination towards a particular preference and a particular kind of church. It may be (I do not say that it must be) that the questioner is looking for a church that makes him feel good, whose worship is exciting and filled with stimulating contemporary music, where there are lots of activities of all kinds, and in which he is left free to come and go as he pleases.
There is another question that we need to ask: that is, “What is a Spirit-filled church? What are its distinguishing characteristics?”
To answer that question, let me use an illustration from the world of business. If you are a employee at a large company you will probably really get along well with some of them. employees. You have common interests, they’re fun to talk to, and you can always have a great time with them, both in and out of work. You may find it a great pleasure to work at the company because of the friends you have there and the good times you enjoy with them. Or you may work at a company where you dislike or are indifferent to the other workers because they’re grumpy or boring. You may really hate working there because all you can do is work work, work.
But now let us imagine that you are a stockbroker looking for a good company to invest in. If you see that the fun company’s productivity is low because the workers are shirkers, will you choose it over the company with high productivity because its grumpers are humpers? In other words, is your pleasure as an employee the best criterion for judging the company’s quality?
Perhaps then we should not judge the church not by the pleasure it gives us but what Jesus will think about it. He may not want you to feel good. In fact, sometimes He may want you to feel very bad indeed: you may have sinned grievously and be in need of a strong rebuke. He may want to expose your hypocrisy, hardness of heart or unbelief. The Galatians probably were not happy to be called foolish and bewitched (Gal. 3:1), nor the Corinthians to be accused of immaturity and carnality (1 Cor. 3:1), nor the Pharisees to be called whitewashed sepulchres (Matt 23:.
The question, therefore, is what does the boss, the Lord of the church, expect? He is not greatly interested in how your church makes you feel. Instead, He will judge every church by how faithfully it serves Him. He has given the church very specific work to do, and he wants to know how well it has done that work.
But what is that work? “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers…” (1 Pet. 5:2). Traditionally, the church has summarized these points as the sound preaching of the gospel, the proper administering of the sacraments and righteous exercise of Christian discipline (or oversight of the flock).
It’s necessary to say a little more about each of these tasks. 1) The preaching of the gospel includes not just the easy and feel-good parts, but also the tough and feel-bad parts. It is preaching not only to the unconverted, but also to Christians who need regular, health-giving nourishment and sometimes admonition, rebuke and chastening. 2) Jesus gave us two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and rules for their celebration. Are we using them according to His will? 3) He has also appointed elders and deacons (1 Tim. 3:1–13) for the oversight of the flock. Their work is to rule (Heb. 13:17), to admonish and exhort the wayward (Tit. 1:9), to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction, to comfort the afflicted, to provide for the poor (Acts 6:1–7), to teach the children (John 21:15), and to administer discipline to the unrepentant (1 Cor. 5:3–5). Are the rulers of the church doing this work faithfully?
If our Lord’s assessment of the church will be according to these standards, should not ours be as much as possible the same? And, if the work of the Lord is being done there, may we not say that there also is a Spirit-filled church, even if it is not as exciting as we would like?