Sometimes You Just Have To To Go: When To Leave A Church!

Permanent movement to a geographical place where your church is not located. Sometimes as people move, geographically, they get to places where their churches are not located. 

For instance, a member of a small church in Zimbabwe may emigrate and become a citizen of Afghanistan or any foreign place where their particular church is not existent and will not be in the foreseen future. The person has to move on with their faith, and so has to join a new church. 

However, for churches which are bigger and have a more organised mission and financial status this could be the right time for the member to plant an assembly for their church in that, seemingly, foreign land! 

1. Serious deviance from the correct Christian doctrine generally agreed to by the body of Christ. The secular world agrees that everything that calls itself Christian is indeed Christian but for the Body of Christ, globally, there are some set things which they consider as “non-negotiable” of the faith (things that almost all Christians believe in regardless of their denomination). 2 Thessalonians 3:6 tells us, “…withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us.” A few examples of non-negotiable include the divinity of Christ (Christians believe that Jesus is God), the trinity (God is three-in-one), that the church is one (although the churches are split and are so numerous, we are all members of one universal church, the Body of Christ). If a church goes against some of these doctrines then sometimes it may be necessary to leave the church. It is agreed that Christianity’s major source and writing, the Bible, is the Word of God and that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit it gives life and is our norm in the Christian walk. Though the Bible is sometimes interpreted out of its correct context and abused or twisted to suit preachers’ needs, it remains the Word of God. The churches that reject the Bible and/or its teachings must, themselves, also be rejected! But find a good one and join!

Disagreement

2. Making of the ministry of God into a personalised cult is also another issue that can be accepted as reason enough for departure of saints from a church. This is whereby a church becomes more like a personal property of the leader and the leader becomes more central that the Lord himself, Jesus Christ. It is obvious that the Bible commands us to give due respect to our leaders in God...very great honour but never for them to eclipse God. There are churches today who talk more about their leader than about God, they read and listen to media resources of their founders and leaders more than the Bible and some even equate their writings to the Bible. To say or pray, “the God of …” is not wrong because the people are just identifying the God of their spiritual father (though this should not be over-emphasised to the point of dividing the Body of Christ as in 1 Corinthians 3:4-5) but for us to pray in the name of a leader and not of Jesus is going astray. These must be left hurriedly! I am not saying we should not talk about our leaders and honour them but am just saying we need to see that we do not worship men but God and Him alone.

3. Serious chronic morale failure on the part of the central leadership. The servants of God are of God but still remain human no matter how much we are convinced that they are not. Every man of God, no matter how gifted they are in any regard, are susceptible to sin...no-one is immune to sin, if we do not control ourselves. In fact men and women of God do sin! You should not leave a church becomes a man of God has just made a mistake and sinned, for example. However, when the central leadership lives in continual sin that seems to be chronic and sometimes without remedy thus: the leader defends his sin; the leader refuses to confess their sin, even to those above him; the leader rejects help and discipline from others in the Body of Christ; then people may leave the church and find a good church that you are just well versed with and/or that God leads you to. The Bible actually tells us that if one is in chronic sexual adultery such as were in the Corinthian church, we must, “…deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”(1 Corinthians 5:1-5) To say that pastors sin therefore you will not go to any church would be to seriously err.

4. Deviance from the one true God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth to worship other gods. The apostle Paul tells us that there is absolutely no other God and that the so-called gods are just idol demons (1 Corinthians 8:4-5). When a ministry begins to teach worship of other gods explicitly or implicitly, people may leave that church because they will be worshipping nothing but demons. In short, the ministry becomes a satanic cult. Leave the cult; Satanists are not Christians and Christians are not Satanists. Join a Christian Church and be faithful to the vision there. Also to be left are churches which seek the help of satanic cults to be successful. How, on earth, can you use Satanism power to do God’s work?

5. A leader who refuses to be accountable to anyone must also be deserted. The church is not a personal belonging. We must all be accountable to the Body of Christ for our lives and ministry. This means that every leader even a founder of a church must also have someone they submit to and are accountable to. There should never be anyone with “absolute” power. One once said, “Absolute power absolutely corrupts!” A leader who is an end in him/herself is dangerous to follow. Everyone must submit to someone. The person they submit to must also be someone very credible in the Body of Christ. If they do not follow, they should not be followed! Period! Even Biblical interpretation must be in line with the church and not a private, individualistic interpretation (2 Peter 1:20)

6. The church is funded on a wrong foundation of rebellion. A rebel and a witch are one ministry with two different titles: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” (1Samuel 15:23) God has never blessed rebellion since the days of Lucifer “the rebel” till eternity. I am absolutely not fearful to declare that rebellion is an extension of the devil’s mission and ministry. I encourage people to leave ministries that are founded on rebellion from God and his leadership and join churches found on the leading of God. These are those which have been founded on the Word, voice and character of God not on charisma, gifts, or other good or bad things. There is a very big church which was formed when its leader could not satisfy his lust with one wife, so left his church to start another one. Up to today the sin is so dominant and in fact it became the first to admit homosexual/lesbian marriages and officiate on them. From such flee.

Note: However even if the church was started through rebellion or any of the wrong points above and you later find out, leave with a blessing or at least in the right way. Never rebel against leadership. Rebel leaders are often short-tempered and they easily curse people. Always leave well and do not destroy bridges that connect you to them that you may want to use later in life and ministry.

By Apostle Pride Sibiya from his book, Why Should I Go To Church?