Statistics indicate that if you live near a major metropolitan area, there are literally three million churches in your neighborhood alone, making your choice of where to worship each Sunday that much more difficult.
Thankfully, the variety of churches also means there's probably a church designed to your exact specifications and built from the ground up to cater specifically to you.
The Babylon Bee is here to help you whittle down the search with this checklist of essentials to look for in a potential church match, and hopefully get you plugged into a congregation sometime in the next decade or two.
1.) Anything less than hand-crafted pour-over coffee is a red flag. Jesus died for the church, and yet they're only able to muster up an unevenly brewed pot of drip coffee? Puh-lease. This is an indication that they don't care about the gospel.
2.) Make sure the worship band only plays the genre you like. If you're into industrial metalcore and the band's playing late-90s soft rock, it's time to split. Remember what worship is really about: you and your modern sensibilities and preferences.
3.) If the preacher makes you feel uncomfortable, run. Preachers, above all else, should refrain from sounding preachy. If he starts calling you to self-examination and repentance, make the emergency signal to your spouse, go get the kids, and book it out of there to the nearest restaurant.
4.) Speaking of the preacher: if he doesn't have at least 20,000 Twitter followers, you're in the wrong place. You need a church that has a pastor who is not only well-known and cool, but who also specializes in short, sweet, entertaining messages. Look him up on Twitter and verify that he has at least 20,000 followers to confirm both of these attributes.
5.) The youth room must have a fully stocked video game arcade. We're talking the classics: Galaga, Pac-Man, NBA Jam. This is a non-negotiable if you want your kids to grow up in a Christian environment they love and not walk away from the faith in college.
6.) Shop around for the church with the very best swag to give away. A free donut and complimentary coffee are really the bare minimum at this point. What you're looking for is a church giving out free T-shirts, stickers, aluminum coffee mugs, carabiners, and those cool pens that can write in space. God gave us every spiritual blessing in Christ - the least the church can do is load up His people with some nice swag.
7.) Pick a church where everyone pretends to be happy. If anyone breaks down sobbing or insinuates that they need prayer for some sort of malady or ill fortune, everyone will understand if you excuse yourself to check out the other church down the road. You want a place where no one will burden you with their personal struggles. You don't need that negativity in your life!
8.) Remember: it's not you, it's them. It helps to keep things in perspective: your specific perception of what a church should look like is probably correct, while their congregation is just jacked up if they don't fit into that vision. Make sure to let them know this on a comment card or email to the pastor after you leave, so they'll be edified by your brief presence.
There you have it. Now you have no excuse. Go find your perfect church and get plugged in!
