Ask a Pastor Column

Q: Does having a church around actually benefit anything? What is it good for?

A: That will depend on the church. Churches that are Bible-based, Spirit-filled and faithful will be tremendous blessings to the community they are a part of. Churches that are dead, toxic or legalistic are a heavy drag on the community and a disgrace to the name of Christ. While I am neither a Christian nor a pastor because I believe all churches are perfect, I do believe that faithful churches and Christians have the greatest potential for blessing both individuals and communities throughout the world (Matthew 16:18).

There are various ways in which a church can do this. Most fundamentally, churches are meant to proclaim and model the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every community has individuals who are struggling with hardship and difficult situations. Life can feel hopeless, worthless and meaningless at times. In those situations, the church stands as a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14-16), sharing the hope, value, and meaning that Jesus Christ brought to every human life through His death, burial, and resurrection on the cross (I Peter 1:18-19).

A church is also meant to foster and encourage good works. Christians who attend a good church regularly are instructed in how and why we should engage in acts of charity and grace to a community (Titus 2:11-14). Scripture exhorts Christians to live by the highest moral standard, loving even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-44), and taking every available opportunity to accomplish good works (Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 10:24).

So then, a good church will provide moral instruction to its members, hope and salvation to the lost, help to the needy, a safe community to the lonely and an embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven to whatever part of the world it resides within. There is so much more that I could say, but this gives a basic answer to your question.

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