I read this quote the other day, and I have to say, I completely disagree with it:
“A good church is a Bible-centered church. Nothing is as important as this—not a large congregation, a witty pastor or tangible experiences of the Holy Spirit.” ― Alistair Begg
I mean, on the surface, I think it sounds right.
We know that as believers, the Bible is our bread. It is God’s very Word to us, able to divide joints and marrow (spiritually speaking).
But is a Bible-centered church really the most important thing in creating a “good church” (whatever that means)?
Consider the Acts church, which grew rapidly and spread the Gospel like wildfire.
Do you think the thing they focused on most was the Bible? Was it within the Bible, and from the Bible, that they found their strength and power?
I doubt it. I think the Acts church focused most of their energy on something else entirely.
I once heard a pastor at a local Phoenix area megachurch talk about the three kinds of churches that exist.
The first church is a Bible church, that focuses primarily on the Word.
The second is a Jesus church that focuses mainly on the Person of Jesus.
And the third kind of church, he said, was a Holy Spirit church, that was more so preoccupied with things of the Spirit.
So after reading that quote and recalling this pastor’s sermon, I got to thinking: Which type of church is best?
Which of the three types should we strive to achieve and focus our energies upon?
Well, here’s the thing, if you’ve read this blog for longer than a week, you might know the questions I posed are trick questions. I’m not going to pretend I know the answer, in its entirety, but here’s what I think …
I think all three “types of churches” are wrong.
