“IT’S TIME TO LEAVE YOUR CHURCH!” ~Pastor Paul Fedena~
Romans 16:1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea.
There are good and bad reasons for leaving a church. “It’s time to leave your church…” when you move geographically as Phebe did in the text. “It’s time to leave your church…” when you die! (Just don’t leave your carcass here!) “It’s time to leave your church…” to help start another church.
✔It is NOT time to leave your church… 1. When you don’t like the preacher, OR: 2. The nursery program, 3. The youth ministry, 4. The Christian school, 5. When you can’t get along with somebody, 6. When the grass looks greener (someone said the grass looks greener because the devil painted it!), 7. When the moon changes phases, 8. When a new preacher comes to town, or 9. When the church is remodeled and you don’t like the color scheme.
✔ There are good and biblical reasons for leaving the church where God originally led you.
IT’S TIME TO LEAVE YOUR CHURCH WHEN THERE IS DOCTRINAL DEVIATION:
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Acts 16:5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
There is a body of belief referred to as “the faith” in the Scriptures from which no true believer can deviate nor tolerate deviation. If doctrinal differences begin to surface in these critical areas, the believer must begin to consider leaving his church. He should first, be certain that the doctrine has changed or is changing, second, make every effort to salvage the ministry if at all possible. But if the church is on an inexorable and unchangeable course towards doctrinal deviation in these core doctrines, then a change must be made.
💥 There are doctrines which most refer to as the fundamentals of the faith. These >are absolutely critical to a Bible believer and >are non-negotiable.
🧡🧡They include the obvious basic historic doctrines, such as...
1️⃣ The verbal, plenary inspiration of the Scriptures (and of course the preservation of the Scriptures), 2️⃣ The virgin birth of the Savior, 3️⃣ The sinlessness of Christ, 4️⃣ The substitutionary death of our Lord, 5️⃣ The bodily resurrection of Christ, 6️⃣ The blessed doctrine of the Trinity,
🧡And those end-time doctrines which set fundamentalists apart from liberals, such as...
7️⃣ The pre-tribulational rapture of the Church, 8️⃣ And the premillennial, bodily return of Christ to establish His rule and reign for a literal thousand years on earth.
🧡🧡Beside these fundamentals of the faith there are also what I refer to as the pillars of the faith.
✔✔They include... ✨The security of the saints, ✨Soul-winning (with an emphasis on missions), ✨The doctrine of the local church, ✨Separation (personal, political and ecclesiastical), ✨The priesthood of the believer, ✨The doctrine of prayer and ✨The eternal destiny of souls in either heaven or hell, ✝Based on their acceptance or rejection of Christ’s shed blood on the cross. ✔✔✨I personally would also include believer’s baptism after conversion, ✔✔✨A proper understanding and partaking of the Lord’s Supper, and ✔✔✨The autonomy of the church.
These days there are also some verypractical concerns for every true Bible believer. >>These include... 1. The proliferation of Bible versions replacing the venerable, preserved word and words of God, in the King James Bible, and 2. The intrusion of worldly music and contemporary worship modes and 3. Methods which usually signal a drift in other areas such as the fellowship of the church.
🔴I recently spoke with a concerned member of a church who said that 🔱their church recently replaced the hymn rack KJV Bibles with the New King James version, 🔱had begun using a hymn book with contemporary music- including ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ 🔱and was encouraging members to participate in inter-church fellowship through Promise Keepers.
IT’S TIME TO LEAVE YOUR CHURCH WHEN THERE IS FINANCIAL ABERRATION:
1 Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
1 Corinthians 10:31-32 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
The word “aberration” speaks of an error, fault or abnormality. If there is a 💲mishandling of funds in the church, it is cause for great concern. Of course that concern must be confirmed, and it is imperative that the member find out whether or not the leadership has any knowledge of any such problem. The leadership should be given the benefit of the doubt and sufficient time to track down any abnormalities and deal with them. 💲Remember even Jesus had a thief among His followers and he was the treasurer!
💲It also must be ascertained if the problem is deliberate or simply sloppy methodology. That doesn’t mean it should be ignored. It should be addressed and every effort should be made by the leadership to change any mishandling of monies. 💲If there is no open financial disclosure (legally required by law for non-profit organizations), 💲a hiding of financial information, or 💲misappropriation of designated funds, there is cause for alarm. 💲Every church should give at least a monthly and/or annual report of every penny collected and spent. 💲The treasurer should be answerable to the pastor and deacons, who in turn are answerable to the members who contribute the funds. 💲There should be accurate records kept with accepted accounting practices in place. 🚫The pastor (and his family members) should be above reproach and never handle any funds directly. 💲Not only should there be public accountability, 💲but there must be constant and careful scrutiny and watchfulness. Even good, saved men and women still have old natures and are not above temptation. Much embarrassment to the cause of Christ could be avoided 💲if we would only conduct our church business with as much carefulness as the world conducts their secular businesses.
❓Perhaps treasurers and financial secretaries should be changed periodically and ❓even the combination to the church safe and those who have access to it, should be changed. ❗There should be at least three people responsible for counting the money at church so there is little chance for collusion.
If after addressing any discovered problems and the leadership refuses to change the policies or there is deliberate misrepresentation of facts, it may indeed be time to leave your church or to deal with those responsible, including legal action and arrest if there is overt criminal activity. (For those who scream we should not take a brother before the law, perhaps we should ask would we take him to law if he was a pedophile or a murderer? We criticize the Catholic for not dealing legally with their problems in this area! And rightly so. (The biblical restriction deals with inner church problems, not criminal activity.)
IT’S TIME TO LEAVE YOUR CHURCH WHEN THERE IS MORAL DETERIORATION:
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
✖ If the leadership, which should be held to a higher standard than the fellowship, transgresses without rebuke and without repentance, perhaps a move would be in order. ✖ If a pastor, and assistant or a deacon is found to be morally unfit he should be called to account, asked to repent and then, depending upon the seriousness of the sin, ✖ If he refuses he should be required to step down, ✖ Disciplined from the membership and stripped of his ordination.
We are of course speaking of leaving the church when these things are not dealt with scripturally. There will always be problems in any church; the issue is how they are handled. If they are handled biblically, there is not only no need to leave the church, but rather a need to support the church.
✖ If the fellowship transgresses without reproof and without repentance, ✖ The leadership should take whatever steps are necessary, including church discipline, to remove that person or group.
*** There is a basic principle to be followed: 1. public sins need to be dealt with publicly (confession to the church) and 2. private sins need to be dealt with on a one-to-one basis at least in the beginning (Matthew 18). 3. The general rule is that discipline is called for only when the testimony of the church and the Name of our Savior is in some way degraded.
💥There are five or six reasons for church discipline listed in the Scripture, all of which are very serious. 1. They are false doctrine, 2. Immorality, 3. A disorderly walk and laziness, 4. Those causing divisions, 5. An unrepentant attitude, 6. And apostasy.
*We need to be cautious before entering into any church disciplinary action. *But the trend in our day is very little or no discipline for even the most serious infractions within the church. How sad. ⁉ Is it any wonder the church has such little impact on the world?!
One well-known preacher I had lunch with after discussing a church disciplinary action we had just gone through, resulting in the loss of some members, said: “Preacher, let me give you some advice. If you are going to practice church discipline, you will never build a big church.” My reply was that “God didn’t call me to build a big church, just a pure church.” The real issue is, does the Bible we say we believe, teach discipline in the church or not?
IT’S TIME TO LEAVE YOUR CHURCH WHEN THERE IS SPIRITUAL STAGNATION:
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
The pastor’s primary responsibility is 🔻to feed the sheep. 🔻He is to do the work of an evangelist as a Christian and 🔻set an example for the flock in soul-winning, but his public ministry should focus on feeding the flock.
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
1 Peter 5:2-4 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
There should be a steady, nutritious diet of healthy spiritual food given from the pulpit, which reflects the pastor’s diligent study of the Word of God, his devotion and dedication. If the man of God is too lazy to properly prepare spiritual food for his flock there is no obligation for a sheep to stay within the fold! Often the preacher who complains the most when his wife doesn’t serve him nutritious and delicious, well-prepared meals, fails in his responsibility to do so for those who come to his table each service. He doesn’t like or appreciate warmed over food at the restaurant he goes to, but that’s the kind of diet he serves to his people.
Little food produces little growth. 💨If you are not constantly challenged from the pulpit to grow and advance in various areas of the Christian life, service, and character – there is something wrong. 💨If you do not feel the Holy Spirit’s urging, His prompting and His convicting when in the services, you should first examine your own heart, then evaluate the pulpit ministry very prayerfully.
💨If the sermons to the saints are always and only evangelistic, it reflects laziness on the part of the pastor and casts doubts to his call into the pastoral ministry. 💨However, if you come to church after a week of sin, or spiritual laziness, and with little or no time spent in the Word, walking with the Lord or witnessing to the lost, you can’t expect the preacher to be able to have much influence on your spirituality or maturity. 💨Seed planted in infertile soil will not grow nor will it produce fruit. Don’t leave the church if the lack of growth is your fault.
There are very few valid reasons for leaving a church where God has planted you. 💯Be sure you are led of the Spirit of God and not some fleshly, personal problem that pushes you out the church door! When you are not sure what to do the general rule is to do nothing. 💯Wait on the Lord. If God led you where you are, then He must lead you elsewhere! Anything else is evidence of backsliding on your part. 💯Before you move be sure that what you are moving to is biblical! It would be better to stay where you are and even change jobs (if that is the reason for your move), than to move where there is no good church for you and your family.
If your motives for moving are not biblical, STAY PUT! You will just take your problems and spiritual immaturity with you. Above all consider any long term effects on you and your family, before making a move. And be sure to make any move a matter of serious and unhurried prayer.
If you are discontent in your church, be sure not to encourage others to leave, or sow seeds of discord there. 🔽Don’t undermine the ministry or God’s man. 🔽Don’t gossip or gripe. If you must leave, 🔽leave quietly, quickly and with as little disturbance as possible. And before making your final decision, 🔽be sure your heart is right and 🔽you have made every attempt within reason to address the problem with the pastor.
More than likely IT IS NOT TIME TO LEAVE YOU CHURCH! But if you find that it is and your motives are pure and you are not just running away from something you created or are a part of, linger before jumping ship! The waters you plunge into may be more shark-infested, and colder than you think.
Dr. Paul C. Fedena Pastor (emeritus) 31 Stream Lane Levittown, PA 19055 (www.pastorpaulfedena.com) Dr. Fedena was the pastor of the Faith Baptist Church of Levittown-Fairless Hills, Pa. for 31 years.