Core Messages -- Choosing a Church

Why did you choose the church you attend (assuming here that you're a church member for a moment)? What is it about the church that got your attention and kept you there? Is it the program? The preacher? The message? We live in a very polarized society -- probably this isn't a recent phenomenon!

As I've noted in several previous posts I'm reading the book Lost in the Middle? (Alban, 2009) by Wesley Wildman and Stephen Chapin Garner. In this book they are arguing that there is a large middle area, what they call liberal evangelicalism, that stands between more vocal extremes. But to live in the middle requires an ability to live with ambiguity, with gray areas and unanswered questions. It requires that we live with more than one possible core message (even within Scripture). Having noted that sociologically it is difficult for any community to develop a "coherent social identity" if they embrace "core message pluralism." They ask this question, which I'd like to pose to the readers (especially in light of the recent Pew Survey on church switching).

Many people choose churches that confirm their prejudices rather than challenge their beliefs. This decision supports greater core message unity and comfort and confidence. Acknowledging core message pluralism moves in the opposite direction, and that is just asking for trouble. An important question for moderate Christians, therefore, is how much diversity is too much? [Wesley J. Wildman & Stephen Chapin Garner, Lost in the Middle? (Alban Institute, 2009), p. 137.]

As I post this question, it's important to point out that this need for core message unity can be present on both right and left, not just on the right. Classical liberalism calls for openness, but as one travels the spectrum toward the extremes, there is less openness than in the middle.