Friday, August 8, 2008

The Delicate Art of Changing Churches: Part 3

Theogeek thinks you should change churches every 3-5 years. Check out his reasons here.

Posted by Mark at 9:39 PM
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

'In short, each church has its strengths and weaknesses, each has something to give and something for you to give it, but staying too long can easily lead to spiritual stagnation and complacency. There comes a time when it's time to move on, when you're getting stuck in a rut, and the same old church just isn't working any more.'

I wonder what would happen if I applied this same kind of logic to marriage?

August 9, 2008 at 1:19 PM
Mark said...

Good point! I of course don't agree with this article, but I did think he brings up some good balancing points to those of the opposite view. And of course being part of a church community and being a partner in a marriage are not in the lame league when it comes to required "faithfulness." Nowhere in the Bible does it say one must stay "true" to one's local church (or small group) but it does say this for one's marriage partner. Yet I kind of wonder if this is the same in many people's books? If it is I challenge them to find any biblical basis for it.

Again, it's just way to easy to judge someone for their reasons for switching churches, assume you know their deepest motives, and then punish them for their disloyalty. Is it wrong to ask someone why they are making a move? I don't think so, in fact I think it's almost our duty to sensitively ask these kind of questions of each other.

Is changing churches because you or the church stagnant always a bad thing? I don't think so. But the kind of serial church hopping that Theogeek espouses certainly seems counterproductive to me.

August 10, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Anonymous said...

I would agree in that, like marriage, we shouldn't just settle - relationships takes honest effort. I wonder if this quality is sometimes missed in our society today.

I have known many people who have left a church, even with legitimate concern, without speaking to the pastor (or leadership) as to why they are leaving. It would seem that we often shy away from any discussion that could lead to disagreement/confrontation.

The problem is that some of the deepest and richest relationships can be fostered when both parties are willing to enter these kinds of messy waters.

I would agree that some balance is in order - and no, there doesn't appear to be any biblical evidence to support undying loyalty to one particular church body.

This being said, there is something to be said about intentional commitment to relationship. The apostle Peter speaks to perserverance and the maturity that it can produce.

I believe there are always exceptions to the rules and we need to be careful not to throw away collective wisdom becasue of exceptions.

I once heard somebody say that given enough time people can justify any position - myself included. I sometimes wonder about the underlying reasons why some people leave church - is it really, most of the time, what theogeek suggests? Not sure.

Mark, good points, we probably would agree on the issue more than we wouldn't.

August 10, 2008 at 6:01 PM
netablogs said...

I think Josh Harris wrote a book on this topic called 'Quit Dating the Church'. I haven't read it, but I believe it's about sticking with one church.

August 24, 2008 at 3:18 PM

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