This
is actually my view and experience on this as I am not BOUND to a specific
church and feel leary of churches who force us to stay and are frowned upon if
we do not commit to them and a service-BOTTOM LINE-FOLLOW the HOLY SPIRIT,for
we are being led for a purpose and serve GOD only.
Church
hopping' as we would understand it (going around to different church buildings
or attending more than one but without 'commitment' to any one church building)
was the usual practice of the early church!
Though
they frequently met in different locations (like riversides, houses, synagogues
and the Temple), they all remained connected to the church body at large. They
were meeting in different locations to fellowship with other believers, to
preach to a wider audience, etc. Church hopping made them more connected to the
body of Christ at large, not less.
In
Acts 2 we are given a couple examples of meeting
styles. In verse one, they are "all together in one place" (Acts 2:1-41). These were followers of Christ,
Jews, and gentile converts to Judaism, gathered to celebrate Pentecost. About
3,000 people were baptized - that's a large church service!
Yet,
in verse 46 we see the practice of the church (same people!) meeting from house
to house and also in the temple courts. These houses were not large enough to
encompass the entirety of the local church in Jerusalem, though the temple
courts were. (Acts 2:12-47, Acts 5:41-42) They met as smaller groups of
believer and as a larger group of believers. House churches were very common,
though usually the local believers of a city also had contact with each other.
[In
fact, 'church' isn't even a word used in the NT. Rather, the term is
"assembly" (ecclesia), and refers to both the one Church, and to any
assembly of believers (two or more, any location!). Our english word 'church'
comes from the greek 'Kyriakos' - "belonging to the Lord", which is
also an apt description. Unfortunately, it tends to be used as a label for
whatever building the church is meeting in].
In
the modern church, it is harder to keep the practice of meeting house to house
due to various fractured denominations, lack of home churches, almost
nonexistent fellowship of christians outside of 'going to church', etc. As
such, whether or not church hopping is encouraged or discouraged will depend on
several factors:
#1
Connection with the larger body of Christ
Is
church hopping isolating you/your family from the Church at large, or is it
connecting you to a larger spiritual body?
#2
Depth of fellowship
Are
you taking time to form deep relationships of fellowship and accountability, or
is church hopping keeping you from worshiping with and getting to know other
Christians at any level of depth? Do you find one church building or several to
result in greater participation together in the work of Christ? (Heb 10:24-25)
#3
Motive
Are
you church hopping because no church building is perfect and so you keep hoping
for better [bad reason], or church hopping because every building has various
strengths/weaknesses that help round out your spiritual life [good reason]? Are
you church hopping because you are afraid of setting roots [bad reason], or are
you church hopping because one building alone is stifling spiritual growth
[good reason], etc.
#4
Spiritual gifts
Is
church hopping making it difficult to find a ministry where one can use
your/your family's spiritual gifts? Conversely, is church hopping making it
easier by the larger selection or different slant of ministries?
#5
Learning
Are
you church hopping because you want to better learn and discern the word by
experiencing different teachers, styles, gifts [good reason], or are you church
hopping until you find an entertaining preacher who's to your liking [bad
reason].
#6
Contribution
Are
you contributing to the edification and ministry of the Church at large? (time,
talent, resources, spiritual gifts, etc) Or, are you hoping to avoid giving
time, talent, or resource to anyone?
#
7 Unity
Does
attendance at multiple locations promote or discourage unity with the church at
large? (Eph 4:1-6)
#
8 Function
A
lesser matter, but a simple analysis of which is more convenient (such as, if
you live/work in two different states or travel frequently).
Article written by Jennifer Rothnie
