Is the authority and sufficiency of Scripture upheld as truth (John 8:31; John 14:6)

OR

Is the ‘wisdom’ of the age upheld claiming there is no such thing as absolute truth.

No matter how nice a person a Pastor is, no matter how good a communicator they are, if they cannot rightly handle the Word of God, they are not fit for the role.  The same requirement must also apply to anyone (men and women) in the church who teach the Word to others outside of the Pulpit

Is the full counsel of God correctly taught, including the proclamation of Jesus Christ and him crucified, and judgement of sin and unrighteousness (Luke 24:27; 1 Cor 2:1-4; 1 Ths 1:5; 2 Tim 2:15)

OR

Are these truths softened (or even departed from) in order to provide motivational messages and entertainment to attract people

Is the gospel of salvation in Christ by grace through faith alone preached (Luke 24:46-47; Gal 1:6-9; Eph 2:8-9)

OR

Is there a larger focus on another gospel such as the ‘social gospel’ where political and humanitarian works are pushed as a means of being faithful to Jesus

Do you see the leadership as modelled in the passage in Ephesians, Timothy and Titus (Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 3:1-8; Titus 1:5-9)

OR

Is it less rigid and structured, perhaps even going against the biblical model to be more contemporary and relevant.  Are you aware if your church leaders are overly controlling?  

Is Jesus acknowledged as being born of a virgin and that he lived a perfect sinless life.  Is he acknowledged as being fully God and fully man during his time on earth (Phil 2:7)

OR

Are you told that he wasn’t born of a virgin? Are you taught that Jesus was not God when he was on earth, and all the works he did on earth were ONLY as a man NOT as God

Is the doctrine of the Trinity upheld (one God who exists in the three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit) (Matt 3:16-17; Acts 2:33)

OR

Is the Trinity denied in favour of variants such as modalism (God is one person who existed at one time as the Father, then the Son, then the Spirit)

Are false teachings and practices addressed and corrected?  Is the church aware of what error is and how to protect against it? (Matt 7:15-17; Titus 1:9; 2 Pet 2:1-3;  Jude 3-4)

OR

Is error never addressed or confronted for the sake of ‘unity’ and not causing offence

Are prayers biblical and directed to the Father in the name of Jesus (Matt 6:6; Rom 12:12; James 5:13)

OR

Are you encouraged to incorporate other practices such contemplative prayer, mysticism and modes of meditation – none of which are found in the Bible.  If you go to a Charismatic church perhaps you are also told to ‘claim’ something in Jesus’ name as a test of your faith.

Is there outward evangelism and missions with a strong biblical doctrinal basis (Matt 28:19;  Acts 11:19-20, 26)

OR

Is the focus primarily concerned with building friendships with the Gospel being secondary

Is the teaching in the church balanced across all levels of spiritual maturity

OR

Is there an overemphasis on outreach at the expense of the mature believers and regular attendees in the church

Are new believers discipled by knowledgeable and mature Christians?

OR

Are new believers expected to work out their new faith for themselves because there is no one willing or able to teach and guide them.

Is there freedom to use your gifts and abilities biblically – and tested where necessary (1 Cor 12, 14)

OR

Are there unnecessary restrictions as to who can serve; or is there too much freedom regarding some gifts (such as tongues and prophecy) which can cause confusion within the body

Is giving generously and within your means encouraged (2 Cor 9:6-7)

OR

is there an over emphasis of giving money to the church (usually citing Old Testament principles) even to your own financial detriment

Have a look at Malachi 3:8-10, which relates to Israel and the Law. Sadly, some pastors/prosperity preachers quote these verses as a way to coerce or guilt their congregations into believing they are robbing God if they don’t tithe.  People are led to believe, whether they can afford to or not, they must tithe at any cost in order to receive a financial blessing in return.

Are only adults or older children (who can make a genuine profession of faith) baptised (Mark 1:4; Rom 6:3-4; 1 Cor 12:13)

OR

Is infant baptism practiced

Are baptisms by immersion in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

OR

are baptisms done via sprinkling of water

Is Communion held on a regular basis such as  weekly or monthly (1 Cor 11:23-29)

OR

Rarely to never

Is Communion only for those who are believers

OR

are non believers encouraged to participate citing that everyone is welcome at the table of the Lord

Is sin/error dealt with appropriately (Matt 18:15-20; 1 Cor 5:1,5,12; Gal 6:1)

OR

does it go unchecked and unaddressed for fear of not offending

Is there a clear statement of faith, that is adhered to?

OR

is the statement of faith non-existent or even unclear – causing confusion for new congregants who may not know what position the church holds to on some matters

If needed, does your church only partner with other like minded churches/Christian organisations (2 Cor 6:14-15; James 4:4)

OR

does it allow interfaith or worldly partnerships

Is there an observable genuine unity in faith, primary doctrines and fellowship (1 Thes 5:12-22 ; Eph 4:1-6) between the church body, including its leadership

OR

Is any opinion or practice tolerated simply to avoid conflict and offence.  Are leaders or fellow church attendees allowed to behave however they want and never held to account.

This topic alone is worthy of a separate article at another point in time.  If I can address one thing now, it is to remember that love is an attribute of God.  

1 John 4:19 – we love because He first loved us

John 13:34-35