Real Church vs Hang-out Church

Real Church vs. Hangout Church

I'm writing this because of a comment that somebody made to me the other day (actually, a while back, now that I'm posting this). In regards to an individual visiting a church, somebody said that they hope the person finds a "real" church and not just a "hangout" church. That comment really bugged me, and I've been thinking and praying on it lately, trying to figure out what I could've said (I didn't say anything at all, because, well, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all), and, what makes a church real or not? These are some things that God has put on my heart in regards to that. Now, I don't claim to know everything and not be wrong on anything, I just feel that God put this on my heart, I sought His wisdom, and this is what I've come up with.

I would look up and reference every verse that I thought of (I'm going to just type them as best I can from memory, so forgive me for any mistakes), and some I didn't but could find anyways, in regards to this topic, but that might take me days. If need be, or anybody asks, I will. Otherwise, anybody is welcome to look them up for themselves. But, here are a couple, 1 given to me by a friend, the others I stumbled on and thought were good:

Acts 2:42 (Amplified)

And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking of bread [including the Lord's Supper] and prayers.

v46

And day after day they regularly assembled in the temple with united purpose, and in their homes they broke bread [including the Lord's Supper]. They partook of their food with gladness and simplicity and generous hearts.

v47 

Constantly praising God and being in favor and goodwill with all the people' and the Lord kept adding [to their number] daily those who were being saved [from spiritual death]. 

*Jesus taught: in temples, on the mountain and other places in the open air, in the square, in homes, etc.

*The disciples taught: in temples, homes, churches (some of which they founded), the square, etc.

*Jesus and disciples regularly met in homes and had meals together

*There is no outline in the Bible [I'm talking New Testament] (that I know of) commanding EXACTLY how church is supposed to be held, when or where it should be held, or at what time or on what day.

*The Bible does not even say (that I know of) how a church should do praise and worship, or (maybe) even that they _should_, only that God's PEOPLE should praise God and give Him thanks.

*The Bible does mention many, countless ways which we can worship God. There is no right or wrong way (including running down the street naked, but that's not my preferred way, and I'm certainly not recommending it, lol), *as long as* it is sincere, from our hearts, not out of religious obligation, or for show.

~~How Christian is it, for God's people to condemn another church because of their style or methods? We are supposed to be loving God, loving our neighbor, and especially, as the body of Christ, loving each other! 1) We can not have one member of the body waring against another! A house divided against itself cannot stand! 2) What kind of a witness are we being to the outside world when we Christians are attacking each other?

3)Even if they are wrong, it is NOT our place to condemn or judge them! The only right, or responsibility rather, that we have, is to obey God's word to US. If God puts it on our hear that something about a church doesn't feel right, the only thing we are to do is to follow where He leads us - to another church! It could be that the church is alright by God, just not where He wants us! If the church IS wrong, GOD will deal with them (vengeance is mine says the Lord). Our only responsibility in that case, is to pray for that church and those people. If we feel that church is sinning or some how not in line with God's word, than we should pray that God opens their eyes, or that He even opens our eyes if we are the ones who are wrong.

-We need to be careful about how we talk about and judge other churches. 1)"Judge not lest you be judged yourself, for the same measure you judge, also will you be judged." This means that God will judge us the same way that we judge others. If we judge how they worship, like for example, condemning a church for using guitars or drums (I've heard of this kind of judgement before), or whatever else (saying that God is not pleased with it, it's false, or they will go to hell for it~ how are we to know if God likes it, or if the worshipers hearts are in the right place, or if they will go to hell or not? how can we know those things when we are not God?), the person judging might be judged for _not_ using it, or for what they *do* use to worship. (See, again, that it is God who will judge us, He is the only one who has the right, the knowledge, or the ability! He is the one who wrote any of the rules in the first place! He knows them better than any of us!)

2) God warns us not to cause others to stumble and sin. If we are talking bad about another (person or church), we are gossiping & judging (which the Bible tells us not to do), and we are causing the person listening, to sin: by listening to the gossip (which we are also not supposed to do), and the hearer will begin to have judging and condemning thoughts, etc. "Whoever is without sin, may cast the first stone"-- we have NO place, NO RIGHT to cast stones!

3) God warns us to be careful for false prophets, false teachers, wolves in sheep's clothing, etc. If we are not careful, and we start to condemn churches and say what they are and are not supposed to do, we can become the false teacher, telling everybody our (self-righteous incorrect and misleading) opinions or what's right and wrong, passing them off as truth, and end up misleading people. We should only speak the words GOD tells us to speak.

4)Pride. God is very against pride. He makes that perfectly clear in the Bible (pride comes before a fall). In fact, that's what caused Lucifer to fall. When we talk about how wrong -THEY- are, and how right -I- am or -WE- are, that is pride, and that is very dangerous! Be careful, because pride is a very easy trap to fall in to! And so is being judgmental for that matter!

Lastly. A hangout church? I had to think about this one. What would define a hangout church? Hmm. Hangout. People "hangout" at bars. People "hangout" at a friends house. When we're "hanging out" we're not usually doing anything productive or edifying to anyone, not even ourselves, and certainly not to God. If a church is praising and worshiping God, and the people are learning from teachers that God has put in place, and they are teaching God's truth, then, I see it as a REAL church, not just a "hangout". So what if it's comfortable, and people are happy and like being there! People liked being around Jesus! They searched Him out, followed Him in to the mountains, across the sea, etc. Why? Because they were *comfortable* in His presence, He made them *happy*, they *enjoyed* being with Him! At the same time, they were learning God's word! Words that not all were even written in the scriptures yet, either. God can give divinely inspired words to people, words that aren't even in the scriptures, but that line up with it. Anyways, that's a whole new discussion. My point: even if the church's style is new and not mainstream (Jesus', John the Baptist's, and the even the disciples, all their methods and teaching were new and not normal or mainstream, and certainly not traditional), even if people enjoy being there and "hanging out" at the church, doesn't make it not a real church. If people *want* to come to church, look forward to it, and like staying, even after the service is over (but especially for the service), than you just might have a good church!