If You Are Considering Leaving Your Church

 April 29, 2024

Monday

Every preacher loses some of the members of the church he pastors. Many of these people leave for reasons beyond their control. They must move for family, job or they simply pass away. There is nothing the preacher should do nor can do to keep these people. There are those who leave without being noticed. They came only occasionally. They lacked any meaningful participation. It is those whom the  preacher considered solid believers who leave that keep him up at night.

Most church members do not consider their church a ministry that they participate in. They are consumers who shop at that church. They joined the loyalty program when they attached membership to their attendance. Thus, if they are going to church, they will attend the one with their membership most of the time. They are there until they find better bargains somewhere else.

Some church members get more involved. They love to teach, so they teach Sunday School. Maybe they are great cooks and do so when the church has fellowships. And so it is with those who a musically inclined and so on. They get involved where they want to. They become a part of the church machine that continues to bring people in and get them involved. These people are vital to the church. Yet, they will be gone as soon as something happens that they truly do not like. It is still not their ministry. They can leave when they want to.

This last group can keep pastors from doing what really needs to be done. They certainly don't want to lose them. The church machine was working so well when they were working. Pastors can't see it working if these involved people leave. It can be very depressing.

There are good reasons for leaving a church when it has been your ministry. God often moves people to other ministries. He doesn't have them move without some other place of ministry in mind. 

Sometimes, it is necessary to move if the preacher starts preaching heresy. Heresy is popular and it will draw a crowd. Once that pastor has been confronted and no one wants to address the heresy, the best course of action is to leave. It is here that you shake the dust off your feet. You will not be welcome there anyway.

Churches hurt people and cause them to leave. The pastor may accuse a member of something or act very unloving toward you or simply tell you to leave. People have very little choice but to leave this church.

Still, there is another reason the people leave. They must make a sacrifice to continue at the church. These people do not realize that ministry is a sacrifice. Jesus will call those who are His to deeper and deeper commitment to Him. He will place those who have a ministry in positions where they might need to stay at a smaller church that doesn't have all the bells and whistles the larger church has for their children. He might need for them to struggle with a church whose pastor preaches God's word but doesn't deliver it with the flair of the preacher down the street who is on TV. He may want them to be at a church that has no pizazz when others are bragging about their church.

But that would mean that Jesus is delivering words of eternal life to them right where they are. Why would they leave that? Because they do not know God's call to the ministry in the church they are in. Otherwise, they can't truly understand the words of eternal life.

Everyone who heard Jesus, heard the same message with their ears. Not everyone knew this was the only place to get the words of eternal life.

John 6:66–69 (NASB 2020) ⁶⁶ As a result of this many of His disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”