I am often asked how you can tell the difference between a genuine follower of Jesus and those who are religious in their thinking, but not genuinely followers of Jesus. How can you tell if a church is a “good” church? It is easy to look at any group who meets under the name of “Christian” from the outside and think they are the real thing because of all the modern bells and whistles and fun activity. They serve fresh coffee, wear blue jeans, and play current popular Christian music. But when you walk into this new church setting for the first time, how can you tell if they sincerely have the Spirit of Christ or just the “appearance of godliness” (2 Tim 3:5)?
In the Gospel of Matthew, the experts of religious law in that time wanted to test and trap Jesus into saying something they could use against Him. The Pharisees asked, “Teacher (speaking to Jesus), which commandment is greatest in the Law?” (Mat 22:36). Knowing that the Pharisees were very concerned about legalities and not so concerned about the love of God, Jesus replied quoting the Old Testament scripture, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mat 22:37, quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus added “Love your neighbor as yourself”. In this way, Jesus got right to the heart of the matter. True religion is love for God and love for others.
When searching for genuine communities of Jesus followers, you should look for the heart, mind, and soul of the church. A church group that loves the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul will be a genuine and healthy group. What might that look like?
Heart
In modern America, we consider the heart the center of emotion, the place we feel and express love. A church that expresses a love for God and others will be humble, thankful, worshipful, generous. This is not necessarily the same as a church that generates great energy and emotional highs. A church that feels the need to create and maintain emotional fervor may be full of good feels but lacking in substance. You want a church that generates and expresses genuine love for God in worship, genuine love for each other in grace, patience, forgiveness, acts of service, and genuine love for the world, not only in good works but by being the kind of person Jesus is in the communities where we live.
Mind
As my mom would say, “God gave you a brain, so use it”. How does a church love God with all its mind? It preaches and teaches carefully and thoughtfully. A mind that loves God asks tough questions, seeks truthful answers, holds everything to the standard of God’s Word. A mind that loves God seeks to represent the thoughts and words of God accurately and encourages the questions and conversation of its people. If the sermons and teachings at a church you are visiting are based on personal opinion, political ideologies, shallow but clever notions, or the latest plot twist of a TV show, or if questions are not welcome, that is a sign that the mind of the church is not fully devoted to God. A mind that loves God thinks long and carefully about the things of God and makes the thoughts of God more important than their own thoughts.
Soul
What does the soul of a church look like? The soul of a believer is thought to be where the person of Christ and eternity dwell. A church that loves God with all its soul will be full of the Holy Spirit. If you can’t see the person of Christ or sense the hope of eternity in the church, then perhaps the soul of that community of people is troubled or unhealthy. If the church does wrong, a church that is full of the Spirit will not just mumble the words “I’m sorry”. A church that is full of the Spirit of God will mourn and sorrow over the hurt that has been caused and will do whatever is necessary to make it right and ensure it doesn’t happen again (true repentance). A church that is full of the Spirit of God will trip over itself to help anyone in need. A church that is full of the Holy Spirit understands that obedience to God in even the small things is far more important than popularity or attendance. A church that is full of the Holy Spirit knows that Jesus is the boss of the church and shows reverence. A church that is full of the Spirit is a place where Christ and the hope of eternity dwells.
Heart, Mind, and Soul
In the ancient cultures, heart, mind, and soul were understood differently. But it is interesting that Jesus didn’t say love the Lord your God with only your heart. Or love the Lord with only your mind. Or love the Lord with only your soul. It’s the whole package. A healthy church loves God with everything.
Not only is the church (and the individual) challenged to love God with everything, the church is expected to be balanced. Too much emotion and not enough thought is a confused frenzy. Too much thought and not enough love is a legalistic burden. Too much emotion and thought without the presence of the Spirit of God is an empty and dead religion. An atheist can serve food to the hungry and give to the poor. The devil can quote bible verses. A church with a heart, mind, and soul that loves God is a healthy expression of faith and love that is an outpouring of the Spirit of God to its members and to the world.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23).
“A new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34).
“Real, true religion from God the Father’s perspective is about caring for the orphans and widows who suffer needlessly and resisting the evil influence of the world” (James 1:27 Voice).
Copyright @ TA Boland 2021
Photo credit: Dreamstime.com
The Basilica of the Mount of Beattitudes, Israel
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