Recently, believers have told me that they have left their churches and gone to other churches or even stopped going to church. Their leaving usually traces its cause to church problems like internal contradictions, discontent with ministries, or even being oppressed by church bullies. But should Christians leave the church when they are faced with church problems?
Actually, these believers leaving the church are mainly devout Christians who are fervent in ministries. Different from nominal Christians, Sunday Christians, and Christmas Christians, they not only attend church services on Sundays, but also the weekly Bible study. Some are active in church ministries. However, they have gradually lost enthusiasm due to internal causes.
The sanctity of a church is given by God rather than coming from the excellence and goodness of the congregation. Conflicts are unavoidable among sinners. After serving in the church long enough, you will find many things that are unsatisfactory and even disobey doctrine, which makes your hope for the church fade away. Some are hurt by church problems and even choose to leave the church. We should be aware that it's unlikely to find the church you want even though you leave your former church since every church is imperfect.
Generally speaking, Christians respond to church problems in three ways: 1. They leave their churches and gather somewhere else. 2. They keep silence and stay in the church even though they know the problems. 3. They point out the problems, hoping that the church can make changes to solve them. Which way is the best? It depends on the specific case.
Suppose a serious problem exists in the church's teaching that proclaims heretical messages and the church and often acts against the faith, It's better to mention it to the church leader. If the leader refuses to listen to you, you can choose leaving, for the church has violated the truth of the Lord, and is no good for your spiritual growth. If some believers hold that they can stay to preach truth to other believers in case they may be deceived, they can do that, provided they have laid a soild foundation on truth and firm faith.
Don't leave lightly if a divergence appears in your ministry or your ministry fails to satisfy your needs, for church ministries are set up for every member, not just for you alone. In such cases, look before you leap and pray before the Lord, reflecting on whether the church ministry is irrational or your strong sinful nature and strong mind lead to your incompatibleness with the ministry.
If interpersonal conflicts grow in the church, don't leave rashly. An argument on non-principal doctrines often occurs among Christians, resulting from different approaches, characters, relationships (common in youth fellowships), and even conflicts of interest. Let's be clear that we who are incomplete gather together for the Lord's love as a family that loves one another. It's normal for one to be at odds with his or her family members, but we don't leave just for this. We need to tolerate, accept, and forgive those who hurt us with the Lord's love since most of the interpersonal events are not about principles. It's advisable to be tolerant at times.
Leaving is permitted if you are oppressed by a church bully. For some reasons, a portion of churches generate bullies who tyrannically abuse their power and run roughshod over the members, oppressing church workers whose bodies, minds, and spirits are hurt. It's acceptable to change a church if a believer who is severely injured has to leave his former church. The point is to not wander away from the truth. When your wound is healed and you experience revival, pray for the church bully who hurt you that he can recognize his mistake as soon as possible and repent to the Lord.
All in all, church problems are unavoidable, but Christians should not leave the church easily unless the church preaches heresy or church bully occurs. In most cases, hold a more prosaic view of your church. Don't expect too much from the earthly visible church and regard it as Heaven, or demonize the church by totally denying it when feel hurt in the church. The reason is that all the visible churches in the world are incomplete, having problems. If we don't have a correct view of the church, we will never find an appropriate church according to our standard.
-Translated by Karen Luo
