5 reasons to leave your Church

[Rollo Tamasi]

Ok boys don't fight over me.E-X-C-U-S-E M-E! I never did care of Ann Margaret so please do not do that to me.

Now Julie Andrews "The Sound of Music" now that I can see.

Hmmm, Julie Andrews?
No, not my type.

 

[Mike]

I've found that churches cannot be all things to all people. No one can do that. Sure, the items 1-5 should be an expectation of any church, but even if those are in check there are numerous ministries for them to focus on and often not enough resources.

I have a main reason we left our church, but on the positive side it's also the reason we went to a church. The high school and young adult programs at our church had been unaddressed for as long as I could remember. This was a large church, worshiping about 1500 people each weekend. We tried in so many ways to get some attention paid to the rate of departure among that age group, but I even had our two pastors tell me one time that it wasn't going to happen. They agreed it was important, but they had other areas to tend to.

Our kids were losing all interest in attending worship, and then there was nothing for them outside of it. We found the church we're going to now, and it seems to have lit a bit of a fire in all 3 of them. For my needs and preferences, I would have preferred to stay, but I did this for our kids. It's a critical time for them as they are at the ages when they are coming to truly own their own faith.

I think there are valid reasons like this where the 5 reasons in the OP are not problematic, but you need to be where the mission of the church and your primary needs are in sync.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Hmmm, Julie Andrews?
No, not my type.

Yikes! Me neither.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

...you need to be where the mission of the church and your primary needs are in sync.

IMO, the primary mission of the Church IS to serve the primary need(s) of the individual believer.

The problem is we simply don't pattern our church meetings to do that. We are way better at meeting the needs of those we want to become a part of the church than those who are already a part of the church, and we justify that with the parable of how the shepherd will leave the 99 to seek out the one lost one. I hardly think that means to not feed and water the remaining 99, but that is how it seems to be understood by many churches whether they realize it or not.

The only exception I can think of to this is your Word of Faith type churches. They understand fully that evangelism is about getting people saved so they can become a part of what the rest of us are enjoying and focusing on.

With all that said, I agree that the evangelism centered mega-churches are a good place to get people into the church. But we need to then move them into meetings that cater to the 99. And anyone who has a gift in line with helping the one lost sheep can stay behind in the mega-church to aid that ministry.

 

[Mike]

Jethro Bodine I couldn't have said it better. Spot on, brother! When I look at the early Church gatherings, they were made up exclusively of those who already loved Christ, and it was a vital time to teach from the Word and meet their needs. No doubt they cared deeply about the needs of those on the outside looking in, but the sole purpose of these meetings was to strengthen and equip their fellow brothers & sisters in Christ.

As I said in my prior post, I've found that you can have a wonderful pastor, leading his flock by the Word of God, but that may not be the community that you are called to wrap your life around. One is likely to become exhausted and dejected if one's spiritual needs are not being addressed. Sometimes church politics dictate that laypeople aren't empowered to make change. It may not be that they MUST find a new church, but it is a valid reason to consider a new one, IMHO.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Jethro Bodine I couldn't have said it better. Spot on, brother! When I look at the early Church gatherings, they were made up exclusively of those who already loved Christ, and it was a vital time to teach from the Word and meet their needs. No doubt they cared deeply about the needs of those on the outside looking in, but the sole purpose of these meetings was to strengthen and equip their fellow brothers & sisters in Christ.

As I said in my prior post, I've found that you can have a wonderful pastor, leading his flock by the Word of God, but that may not be the community that you are called to wrap your life around. One is likely to become exhausted and dejected if one's spiritual needs are not being addressed. Sometimes church politics dictate that laypeople aren't empowered to make change. It may not be that they MUST find a new church, but it is a valid reason to consider a new one, IMHO.

I wonder if the church can ever see the light again on this. What will it take for pastors to get on board with this and start thinking about the flock again?

 

[Kathi]

I wonder if the church can ever see the light again on this. What will it take for pastors to get on board with this and start thinking about the flock again?

Churches just are not what they used to be.Very sad.

 

[Brother Mike]

Unfortunately there are plenty of them around.


http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2014/11/16/5-reasons-you-should-leave-your-church/

#1 There is simply no sense or expression of love among the people.
#2 The Church is not attempting to live out the marks and purposes of a Church.
#3 The Church consistently ignores qualifications for elders and deacons.
#4 The Pastor is preaching blatant heresy.
#5 Members(especially leaders) in the Church are in grave sin but no one is holding them accountable.

These are all sight led things.

There is no perfect Church. These are just things that go wrong in any Church.

We go nowhere unless the Holy Spirit tells us to go.

So the question I have, why would the Holy Spirit lead someone to a church they would just have to leave? Unless folks are not being Spirit led in the first place, at that point it really don't matter what church you go to. Your defeated anyway.

Most folks pick the church that supports their doctrines of men, and if it's close and convient. We are suppose to be where the Lord told us to be, and there is no failure in that. Most go leave town for that great new Job, and the things of the Lord and church come second. (Money is the god being money led)

Where the Lord says Go, I go. I don't care what denomination. If I am told to be there, I am there.

One chruch who preached generational curses and all sorts of strange things, the Lord said go.

I don't question, but it ended up me as Pastor and completly unexpected things I had no idea would happen. On the outside it looked like a place to avoid, and I did not care for the doctrine either.

 

[Mike]

Not if they are abusive towards others when they are suppose to set an example.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11370806

The liberal media does a good enough job taking a few bad eggs and putting the blame on all of Christianity. We don't need to help them. These exceptions don't speak on behalf of you or me, and certainly not our great God. I'm not suggesting we sweep their behavior under the rug, but we shouldn't make it sound more common than it is.

I tried to word this in a friendly way, but I think it still comes off snippy. Don't take it that way.