3 Ways to be a Bad Church Member

1. Try to Change the Pastor

First of all, you need to realize that no two Christians believe exactly alike on every single thing. Find a church that you agree with on the important things and then overlook the rest. One person met with a pastor several times trying to get him to change the entire structure of his church before he ever visited even once. This person should have either adapted or gone somewhere else. It’s fine to humbly ask your pastor questions about verses that support your differing belief, but don’t sweat the small stuff. You might even be the one in the wrong. Just get your butt into a good church, and sit down and shut up.

“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;” 1 Timothy 5:1

2. Avoid Fellowship

If you’ve been going to a church for several years, and people are still asking if you are a first time visitor, you aren’t showing yourself friendly. One person that this happened to admitted that she understood why it happened because she never talked to anybody, and she really didn’t. Let that never be said of you, friend.

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

3. Create Drama

You don’t have to be best friends with everyone in the church, but can you at least just smile and say hi when you accidentally cross paths when someone you don’t like? Maybe if you pray for that person your heart will change over time. The only person you can control is yourself. This is an important principle, which applies to all relationships—not just friendships between church members.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

The best way to be a good church member is to find a church where you can respect the pastor. Be friendly, and avoid voicing minor disagreements. When you get home, don’t complain about your church to your family. When you have roast preacher for dinner, you are causing your children or spouse to have a bad attitude. Don’t criticize the man of God on the internet either. Anything you put in writing can be shown to someone else, and your pastor might just throw you out of the church as a railer and a backbiter. If you do have to leave, go out gracefully and avoid stirring the pot by contacting the remaining members.

Here is a sermon on Being Friendly