THE FOUR MOST COMMON REASONS PEOPLE LEAVE A CHURCH 1. The church is changing directions. a.
They liked things the way they used to be. o (Thats not always wrong.) When people join, they sign up for what youre doing, right then. If you make a major change in direction, it just may not suit what some people are looking for in a church. o Im not ignorant enough to belie e that an infinite !eing like "od only has one way of doing things # (which just happens to be $mine%)& o "'( I) ('I*" +',- T./* '*- T.I*" I* T.- -/,T., !-0/1)- T.-,- I) +',- T./* '*- 2I*( '3 4-,)'* I* T.- -/,T.. o Whos right, the seeker friendly people or the ,i er people5 The Word of 3aith people or the !aptists5 The apostolic people or the $stay in one place and build a mega church% people5 T.-6 /77 /,-& b. The leadership is changing 8 their fa orite leader is lea ing. . The! "ere e#$ected to change. a. 7eadership confronted them about their personal life, and they didnt want to make the necessary changes. )o, its just easier to lea e. %. &o' change and(or )inancia* $ressure. a. )ometimes a job is a legitimate reason to mo e. (!ut, you should at least see if theres a good church where youre going.) +. The! thin, a ne" *ocation "i** -ean a 'etter *i)e. a. 0hanging churches feels like progress. b. 4ri ate failure has can take its toll, and escape looks like deli erance.
9 +any pastors seem to ha e trouble with the idea that $"od is calling someone out of my church%. (.ow could .e5 Were, by far, the best thing around&) 9 The truth is, when youre first getting started, "od brings some people into your church as $scaffolding%. Theyre there for a time. /nd, when the building goes up, (so to speak), they lea e. 9 7ooking at it from the perspecti e of the people. "od may bring someone into your church for a specific time, in order to make a deposit into their life. !ut, then .ell mo e them on, to recei e another kind of deposit elsewhere.
9 Asse-'*! o) .od # (0ommitment to "od, lo e for :esus) 9 Fu** .os$e* # (The "race of "od) 9 .race Fe**o"shi$ # (3aith, the Word of "od) 9 Christian Center # (-;cellence, 0hristian -ducation, 0haracter) 9 Victor! # (- erything we learn here). 9 4ut them together, you ha e 4astor ,ons world iew. 9 I couldnt ha e become $me% being in any one of those local churches. -ach one made a deposit that Ill be eternally grateful for. 9 If "od did that for me, who am I to say that .e cant do that for others5 9 *ow, thats not to say that you dont ha e I*41T when people want to lea e. / 0AS1C RULE OF THUM0 2 9 Theres a difference between someone coming to I*3',+ you that theyre lea ing, and someone asking for your 0'1*)-7 in the matter. 9 If someone comes and T-77) me theyre lea ing, Ill say, $'kay%. (Theyre not asking for my opinion, so unless "od specifically tells me to say something, I usually wont.) 9 If someone asks me my opinion, it gi es me the right to speak into their life.
