It
breaks my heart when I hear that someone has left my church. I’m quick to
say “oh no” but I no longer ask why. Truth is I don’t want to
know. I know that there are many reasons for leaving a congregation.
There are legitimate reasons and there are reasons that are just excuses.
People move. People church hop. People don’t want to be rooted. Some are just
looking for the next best thing. Some don’t want others to get too close for
fear of exposure. Some are not letting God lead. Some have been hurt and think
it’s beyond repair. There are those that leave because families have split up.
Sometimes people have “fall outs” much like getting a divorce. Sometimes the
Bible is not being preached and saved people are waking up to it. Some are just
stubborn and stiff necked and won’t take correction. And others are just full
of pride, letting their flesh decide. There are more reasons than I can
name. Whatever the reasons are, and whether they are “legit” or not, you
decide. But be sure to count the cost of leaving before you go.
It will disrupt, and in some cases destroy families. It will affect
your children. It affects others in the church, especially new
Christians. You may not realize it but there are people that look up to
you. Where you go to church is one of the most important decisions you
will ever make. Even if you choose to not go to church. Not to say that you
“have” to go to church to make heaven your eternal home. But as Christians,
we’re supposed to be rooted. Church is where we learn and grow in all things
spiritual. Hebrews 10:25 KJV “Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” When you’ve really
given yourself to Jesus you want to be around other Christians, you want to
know more, be more, experience more. Your eternal destiny is at stake.
When
God puts you in a church, you know it. He doesn’t later change his mind as the
enemy would have you believe. He knows where he wants to "plant" you
so you can grow spiritually. Jeremiah 17:8 KJV They will be like a
tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does
not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no
worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
It
is too easy these days to not get “planted.” Some people just keep themselves
in a bucket and never put down roots. There are churches on every corner,
or so it seems. Just like gas stations and convenience stores. If you don’t
like this one, go to another one. This one is offering free coffee with a fill
up and that one you can have a donut and a coffee...and so it goes. It’s
marketing. And we are caught in the middle. We can pick up our
"bucket" and move it from place to place, get a little watering here
and there but never get planted. We need to choose and stay with the one. The
one that God has sent you to. The one that preaches truth, from the Word of
God, where the leaders are open and honest and real people. Test
it. Read your bible and listen to what the Pastors are
preaching. Does it line up?
I
had been saved and serving God in my church for more than a few years when
someone very dear to me left. Other people had come and gone during that
time and I paid no mind to it. This was someone to whom I looked up to during
those formative years as a new Christian. I emulated her, I wanted to be “as
Christian” as she was. It broke my heart. I just couldn’t
understand. And I found out she left through someone else. I
was devastated. She didn’t even tell me! I questioned my own
attendance at this church. I thought if she left, maybe I should I
leave too. It sounds almost as if I was making her my God. I
assure you I wasn’t. I had just come from a place where I didn’t
have Christian examples in my life and looked to her as a teacher.
I was just a new convert. And to top it off when I asked her about
it, she said “I can’t believe you don’t understand.” And then she said, “we can
serve God anywhere.” True, but it hurt. And like I said
earlier I questioned my own attendance at my church. The church
where I knew God put me and where I was first saved, baptized and filled with
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. That’s how I got
through this confusing time. God doesn’t bring confusion. The
enemy does. I knew I was where I was supposed to be and from that
moment on, I decided that this was my church, I had no intentions of leaving,
and was going to get involved and stay involved. It was a
resolve that I had to make. Making that decision then is what
helped me get through lots of trials. It helped me to grow
spiritually. I have since learned that God doesn’t just place us in a
congregation for our own good, but also for the good of someone else. You
don’t know who you are influencing, or who comes from afar and is encouraged
because you’re still there. And I can say I’m still resolved to
stay. I don’t have intentions of leaving. I won’t say I’ll never
leave, because we just don’t know what the future holds, but I don’t intend to
leave. I love my church and my church family. Since that time,
God has brought many other strong Christian women into my life who I look up
to. I am involved and plan on staying involved.
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Thank you so much for sharing.Fortouching a subject in a way where u don't point a finger, but instead you help us too reflect on why we are in the church that we are. I did in a difficult time question if I should stay, but I know that God has me right where He wants me. I'm so glad I'm home.
ReplyDeleteDear RC, Thank you so much for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I'm glad you're home too, where ever that is. God Bless you! 1 Thes 5:18
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