Praise Your Congregation to Others
Are congregations perfect? No! Since each congregation is made up of people, there will be missteps, foibles, quirks, and (sometimes) sins that need to be addressed and worked on. People will have hurt feelings, strained relationships, and (sadly) worse at times.
That said, what we share with the world matters. When we are in private conversations or on social media, we need to share the best about the Lord’s Church because the world needs to be drawn to His body.
Now, does that mean that we lie? Not in the least. In fact, that is why I started this article the way I did: by admitting that no congregation is perfect. Sometimes when we are communicating with others, we need to couch things that way (“we may not be perfect, but…”).
But, overall, what we share with the world needs to be praise for our congregations, the building up of God’s people. Because we want people to be part of the Lord’s Church, which is the place of the saved!
How do we do that? Here are a few suggestions.
- Share the Good News. If someone is baptized or places membership at your congregation, why would you not want to share that? If your congregation has a great attendance or a very encouraging event, why would you not want the world to see that?
- Speak Well of the Congregation. “I love this church” really is enough! But if there are specifics, why not share them? Maybe you randomly praise the elders. Maybe you leave a comment on a post and invite someone to your “great” Bible class.
- Don’t Share the Negative with the World. If you are someone who has been hurt, work it out privately, don’t air it publicly. Doing so only gives some people more reason to stay away and gives enemies of the Lord’s Church more ammunition to use.
No congregation is perfect, but it is only to the Lord’s Church that the saved are added by the Lord, so that is where we want people to be. Draw them in every conversation, every post, and every interaction toward the family of God by praising the good.
(And, by the way, if you are someone who has been hurt, if you focus on the good and share that with people, you may just notice that there is still more good than bad!)
(And one more “by the way:” I LOVE CENTRAL!!!!!!!!)
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
