The Christian Way To Leave A Church

Acts 15:39 tells us that Barnabas and Paul, who were good friends, had such a sharp disagreement that they departed company. This says something to us about how to leave a Church. While " church hopping " is immature and unhealthy, we all realize that there are times when all we can do is move on. We ought to be able to do this without some of the "drama" that goes on when some people leave the church. This can be true of the one staying as well as the one leaving. Let me give you a couple of examples:

First, the leader can react something like this: "God is separating the wheat from the chaff". That is unkind, to say the least. Just because someone doesn't agree with my leadership, or God forbid, they don't like me, doesn't mean that they are chaff in the eyes of God.

Secondly, the person leaving may say something like "I'm not being fed" ( I bet you've heard that one before), declaring themselves to be more mature than anybody else in that church.

The Christian way of releasing or leaving is to bless, not dump a load of guilt or hostility on the congregation or the person leaving. Try to resolve any of the issues or misunderstandings. Don't write-off the congregation or the person leaving. Speak well of the people you have left or don' speak at all. Recognize that they continue to serve the Lord, just as Paul recognized that Barnabas was serving the Lord some five years after they had parted company (1 Cor. 9:6).

It's hard when you have to leave, or let people go, but when it happens we need to do it well. And never forget that leaving a church doesn't mean the person is leaving THE Church.

DON'T BE FOOLED

The secular culture in which we live is indoctrinating people into a world-mindset by changing the language we speak. The prophet Isaiah prophesied of a time when people when people would call evil good and good evil ( Isaiah 5:20 ). Here's a few examples:

.Modesty is now called a sex hang-up.

.Christian discipline is now called unhealthy repression.

.Perverted is now called adult.

.Moral irresponsibility is now called being freed up.

.Virginity is now called neurotic inhibitions.

.Self-indulgence is now called self-fulfillment.

.Living in sin is now called a meaningful relationship.

.Perversion is now called alternative life-style.

.Depravity is now called creative self-expression.

.Killing an unborn child is now called choice.

That's not the end of it, but I think you get the picture. What can we do about it? Well, we can start by praying for the tearing down of demonic strongholds that transform truth into lies, and lies into acceptable patterns of behavior in our society.

A Mother's Example of Faith

In 2 Kings 4:1-7 we learn from a mother how to get into supernatural living. We are not told what her name is. We do know that she was widowed with two sons, facing hard times. This woman's faith and ability to receive is an example for all of us to follow.

In verse 1 we are reminded that life is not easy. In fact Jesus Himself said that in this world we will have tribulation (John 16:33 ). In this world Jesus calls us to live beyond our natural abilities.

In verse 2, we learn that the prophets job is not to make us feel good, but it's to get us from where we are to where we need to be. It's called spiritual maturity. The ability to trust God is a sign of spiritual maturity.

Verse 3-4, he shares with her a process to maturity with a call to action. Her resources weren't enough to meet her needs but she is shown the way into the miraculous.

In verse 7, she became not only a receiver of oil, but also a distributor of oil.

Three things about this mother that stand out:

1-HER DESPERATE NEED DROVE HER TO GOD. We tend to run to everyone else first. Instead, we need to let the trials, the problems, the pressures of life drive us to God ( Phil. 4:6-7 ; 1 Peter 5:6-7 ).

2-HER NEED ENABLED HER TO SEE BEYOND HER JAR TO THE RESOURCES OF GOD. God will work a miracle with what you've got, if you make it available to Him. God never reduces the problem to our size, but instead He grows us.

3-THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF HER OBEDIENCE. God has unlimited resources for all who will trust and obey Him.

Thank God for mothers, especially the ones who know how to trust and obey Him.