3 Reasons Not To Leave A Church

If you are a Christian long enough you will inevitably make a decision about whether to join a church and whether to leave one.

These will be two of the most important decisions you will ever make.

It’s surprising then to see some of the reasons people leave churches and how flippantly they make these decisions.

There are 3 reasons you should almost never leave a church.

1. An Offense. Someone offended you? Good. Learning to deal with offenses and to forgive are two of the most important things you can learn as a Christian. And there is no better place to learn them than in a community of believers. It’s one of the reasons God requires you be in a church. Leaving when you get offended is like leaving a restaurant when they ask to take your order.

2. “Not Being Fed.” I’m referring here to Christians who claim they are not being fed by the preacher. As my wife says, there are only two kinds of people who can’t feed themselves: babies and invalids. A church should offer growth opportunities for Christians. That’s one of its purposes. But if your church is reaching non-Christians and making disciples, don’t complain because your pastor is preaching the parable of the lost sheep instead of the nuances of the Book of Revelation. The Church is the body of Christ. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The Church should be doing the same thing, not crying about not being fed.

3. Someone Else’s Offense. The pastor offends a church member who is a friend of yours. You think the pastor is wrong and take up the offense of your friend. Your friend leaves and you follow. When this happens on a bigger scale it’s called a church split. Why is it wrong? See reason #1 above. Offenses are inevitable and the only thing that is worse than not reconciling is expanding the offense to include others.

Learn to deal with offenses. Learn to feed yourself through daily Bible study and prayer. Encourage others to reconcile rather than taking up their offense. GS

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