In this episode, Brett, Brian, and Jason answer listener questions about the nature of prophecy and the Holy Spirit and about changing church membership.
2 Comments
I appreciate your response to the question regarding leaving the church, but it seems to assume “the customer is always right.” It is my observation and experience that most people today leave churches for self-centered reasons (somebody looked at me the wrong way….I don’t like the music…worship is too formal, etc.). Unlike sheep that can be crooked into pens, pastors cannot force anyone to stay even if their reason is filled with the spirit of this world. As a pastor, I also have left churches because I grew tired of who the people were or what they did, but I now see that this was not helpful for me or them. When we do not address our issues through God’s Word and within the accountability of the Christian community, we merely take our luggage to the next congregation. One of the real problems today are the number of people who have left church after church and now go nowhere because there is no church that fits them.
This is an excellent point. Consumerism among church hoppers is a major problem and one we should have addressed in connection with this question. Lost in the midst of those with legitimate reasons to leave a congregation are a whole host of others who are looking for excuses to scratch an itch. Much like any issue in the Church, the issue of changing church membership needs to be one of Law & Gospel.
I appreciate your response to the question regarding leaving the church, but it seems to assume “the customer is always right.” It is my observation and experience that most people today leave churches for self-centered reasons (somebody looked at me the wrong way….I don’t like the music…worship is too formal, etc.). Unlike sheep that can be crooked into pens, pastors cannot force anyone to stay even if their reason is filled with the spirit of this world. As a pastor, I also have left churches because I grew tired of who the people were or what they did, but I now see that this was not helpful for me or them. When we do not address our issues through God’s Word and within the accountability of the Christian community, we merely take our luggage to the next congregation. One of the real problems today are the number of people who have left church after church and now go nowhere because there is no church that fits them.
This is an excellent point. Consumerism among church hoppers is a major problem and one we should have addressed in connection with this question. Lost in the midst of those with legitimate reasons to leave a congregation are a whole host of others who are looking for excuses to scratch an itch. Much like any issue in the Church, the issue of changing church membership needs to be one of Law & Gospel.
Thanks for the response!