Because I know I have family and friends who read my blog, which I am thankful for, I want to preface this blog by saying that this isn’t pointed at anyone. Due to recent events and circumstances, I have developed a checklist, if you will, of when to leave or not leave a church. This is an area that God dealing with me on. Yes, I want to move back to Colorado, but why? If church is one of the most important things in my life, I need to make sure that I am in the church that God wants me in. Whether it is here in Mississippi, or back in Colorado, or elsewhere.
“Why would you leave the church over 5% you don’t agree with, when you agree with 95%?” I have heard this statement many times and yes, there is some truth to it. It all depends on what that 5% is that you don’t agree with.
“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”
I Corinthians 12:18
God has placed you in the church where He wants you to be. There is a reason why you are where you are. There is someone that you are supposed to reach and be a blessing to where you are. If you decide that you know which church is best for you, then you are displeasing God. I think that we should take our church membership seriously.
So let me get into my reasons to leave a church.
These first three reasons are reasons that I won’t hesitate on or waver on. If any one of these happens, I will move on.
When the King James Bible is no longer the ONLY scripture used, then it is time to leave that church. I am King James only. I will never change where I stand on that. If the church or pastor decides to use something other then the King James Bible, I will not wait until the end of the service to leave. Unless it is out of the blue, you can usually tell when a church is getting to the point where it will go to some other book. By then, I probably would have decided to leave.
When the doctrine of salvation is preached as a ‘works’ salvation and not as a ‘believe and you shall be saved’ salvation, then it is time to leave. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ. No works or deeds. No baptism of church attendance. No living a good life, or giving your life to Christ. Salvation is ONLY through the blood of Jesus Christ and trusting in Him as your only way to Heaven.
When the doctrine of the Baptist church as found in the King James Bible is changed, then it is time to leave.
These next couple of reasons are things that I would probably try and find out more about, before I made the decision to leave a church.
When the pastor of the church decides to preach in conferences and behind pulpits that are not of like faith (Independent Baptist, King James only.) The reason for this is that if I am attending a church, then I am putting my stamp of approval on that pastor. For him to preach for other denominations that I don’t doctrinally agree with, in my mind, I would be putting my stamp of approval on that denomination also.
When it is known that the church leadership is trying to cover up something done by a church employee that is legally and morally wrong, then it is time to leave. It is sad that this even has to be said, but in this day in age, I am afraid it goes on more than we can imagine.
Then lastly, here are some reasons that have to deal with personal beliefs.
When you are asked to put the church before your family, I would pray about what God would have me do. The family is the first institution that God created. How can we be that effective in ministry if we let our own family go by the wayside. One should never be looked down or disrespected in any way if they choose their family over extra-curricular church activities. I am not saying that you choose family over church attendance and over doing what is right according to the Bible.
When the church standards, fall below the standards that are set for us in the Word of God. When it becomes acceptable to look, live, and talk like the world and there is no call to be separate and no call to be different, I would start to look and pray about going someplace that will push myself and my family to be better Christians.
And the last reason to leave a church…
When you know that it is God’s will to leave. God will let you know when it is time to leave and where you are supposed to go. As mentioned before, He has placed you where He wants you. We should have a close walk with Him, that we know when He is calling us elsewhere to serve Him.
If you do end up leaving a church, here are a couple things to keep in mind.
- Do your best to leave on good terms, no matter the circumstances.
- You should never speak poorly about the church you came from. Your complaints with the previous church and pastor are YOUR complaints, you don’t need to share with everyone.
- The new church you are attending should be that of like or stronger doctrine and convictions.
If we sit down and think about it, we can come up with many reasons why we should leave a church and many of them would probably be valid points. But one thing I have realized recently is that the less that I am involved in at church, the more critical and discontent I become. When you are busy serving the Lord and obeying the Word of God, you have less time to nitpick and point out every little mistake there may be.
Don’t be looking for every little way out! Get in and serve! Stay busy and let God use you! He placed you there for a purpose and a reason!
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