by Chadwick Brewer<\/p>\n
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord<\/em>” (Romans 12:10-11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Some areas in the world are blessed with multiple congregations in close proximity. What a blessing it is to have so many Christians in one area. If only we all could enjoy such a gift.<\/p>\n
There can be a temptation-though it is not exclusive to areas with many congregations, it does seem more common in these places-to find a church that suits them. In this mindset, people begin to believe that the congregation should cater to their preferences and meet their personal needs, rather than focusing on serving and bearing with others. With this mentality, people often become “church shoppers,” seeking the perfect church.<\/p>\n
The fundamental problem is that we become “church critics” rather than worshipers and students. The focus shifts from bearing burdens, showing honor, and practicing brotherly affection to complaining about noisy children, off-key singers, and long-winded speakers. The purpose of the congregation is abandoned in a whirlwind of self-service.<\/p>\n
So don’t make it about you when you go to church on Sunday. Sing the hymns to praise God and edify others. Pray from the heart so that God hears your prayers, not man. Listen to the teacher to learn. Commune to remember. And praise God for His goodness.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Chadwick Brewer “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:10-11). Some areas in the world are blessed with multiple congregations in close proximity. What a blessing it is to have so many Christians in one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-86400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-membership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95248,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-there-be-church-autonomy-when-the-church-in-jerusalem-oversaw-many-house-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":86400,"position":0},"title":"How can there be church autonomy when the church in Jerusalem oversaw many house churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother, I have a question about the autonomy of the local church. I understand that there were many house congregations in the first century. So, if there were many house congregations in Jerusalem, how can they be considered the church in Jerusalem? Also, if there were many congregations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sponsoring-church-arrangement\/","url_meta":{"origin":86400,"position":1},"title":"The Sponsoring Church Arrangement (Longhenry)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry God wills for all people to be saved in Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:4; II Peter 3:9); Christians must go out and proclaim the Word of the Gospel to their fellow human beings (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:14-17). The local church, as the Body of Christ manifests\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67110,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-churches-of-christ-the-only-correct-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":86400,"position":2},"title":"Are the churches of Christ the only correct church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffery, In the article \"Wasn't Babel the city of Eridu?\" you mentioned, \"You will not find any claim that the churches of Christ are the only correct church on this site.\" Do you no longer believe in the one true church? I understand that not every church with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25118,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-elders-responsible-for-the-employment-of-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":86400,"position":3},"title":"Are elders responsible for the employment of preachers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I enjoyed and appreciated your article on\u00a0the work of the evangelist.\u00a0 I find it quite different from many by what you might consider institutional churches of Christ. I am concerned about the final paragraph on the selection of the minister.\u00a0 As I understand first-century history,\u00a0 many preachers were involved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-god-view-switching-congregations\/","url_meta":{"origin":86400,"position":4},"title":"How does God view switching congregations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Mr. Jeffrey! My husband and I have decided to switch our church membership to another local body of believers. God says that He places each member how He sees fit (I Corinthians 12:18), but I cannot find a biblical reference to how God moves people to different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94578,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-are-the-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":86400,"position":5},"title":"Where Are the Elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. Walk into many congregations today and ask a simple question: \"Do you have elders?\" Far too often, the answer is the same: \"No\u2026not yet.\" Sometimes that answer has been given for 10 years\u202620 years\u2026even 40-50 years. But that should cause us to pause and ask a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shepherd-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shepherd-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shepherd-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}