Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast where we're all about providing sound doctrine for

everyday people.

I'm your host, Kosti Hin, and on today's episode, I want to talk to you about the difference

between church shopping and church hopping.

Now maybe you've heard both terms and you think both of them sound like the same thing,

but it's really important to make a distinction and I want to offer a definition for each.

A friend of mine who is very faithful in the local church and has not been known for

bouncing around based on his preferences or the preferences of his wife, expressed

his shame as he and his wife are in the middle of trying to find a new local church.

He said to me almost with an embarrassed whisper, you know, we're currently church shopping

and I feel terrible about it.

He was expressing his discomfort with the fact that a lot of people bounce from church

to church and they are basing their bouncing around on consumeristic preferences and he

doesn't want to be labeled one of those types of Christians.

That got me thinking, there is a difference between church shopping and church hopping.

Let me define the difference at least in my own mind and present this to you.

Church shopping is a lot like grocery shopping.

Here's what I mean.

It's not merely consumerism.

It's the idea that you have a very specific set of ingredients that you are looking for

so you can make the right meal and a healthy meal at that.

You've thought about what you're looking for and with regards to a church, your list

...