I have been reading a few blogs revently from frustrated Christians who are angry within the buildings they worship God. They are not new believers trying to understand it all, they arent people who have no clue about Jesus or anything along those lines, these are people who have chosen to follow Jesus and have been and understand what He stood for and stands for. From what I understand we ARE the church, not the building itself, but the building is a place the church comes together to encourage and build up eachother in our faith. This should not be a place with constant anger stirring up within belivers. To start hating on a church is to not hate on the walls or the photos on the wall, but the people inside.
I do first of all want to say that I do firmly believe that God is fully capable and has and will call people out of a church body for His reasons. This has happened to me once, where I wasnt exactly trying to leave a church, but circumstances happened and He placed another church body right in our midst that we knew without a shadow of a doubt was where God wanted us to be. There were no ill feelings, there was no anger involved, it just happened. There was a peace that came from it. No resentment, no eye rolling, just a peace. I remember when we moved across province we were church searching and there were places we just knew thats not where God wanted us, so we did look at different churches, denominations etc till we found one we felt we were supposed to be at, but we were still only there for a short time till God called us to somewhere else. These werent vain reasons, this was God telling us flat out "No"
BUT I do think also that God should also be the only one to tell you to leave a church body. The question I think of is what is it that is causing a person to simply stew in their own anger/boredom towards their church/denomination/etc instead of being within that building and surrounded by fellow believers who none are perfect to worship the living God? There is no perfect church body, there never will be till the day we are all with Jesus celebrating. I think our goal should never be to find a perfect church, but the body of believers God wants us to be involved in. There is a church body for everyone.
One thing I know for certain is that it does help to get involved, especailly in bigger churches. All church bodies need the people to use their talents and gifts within the four walls of the church. I attended a church for a little under a year that was significatly bigger than the one I came to know Christ in. While it was overwhelming, I knew that it being overwhelming may not be a good enough reason to leave and find something I was more comfortable with. So I got involved in small group studies and tried worship there for a bit. While not all I tried to involve myself in worked, it got me to get to know the fellow brothers and sisters in Christ around me and not feel so shy and overwhelmed. While its true that we also need the "regulars" of a church to step out and greet the new people ( I think this is very important), new people dont be afraid to step out as well. Maybe there is not much happening at your church but you'd like to see something happen, like a study or something for the kids. Maybe thats why God has placed you there, to start those things.
Do you feel your church isnt feeding you? Now before you go blaming it on your pastor, remember its not your pastors job to give you revelation Sunday after Sunday - its Gods. Are you taking your notes, or paying attention, coming home and praying and asking God to teach you about what was spoken about at service that Sunday? God will show you things about His word you dont understand, but its not soley your pastors job to do this. Pastors have all different kinds of personalities, maybe the pastors personality doesnt quite click with your ears, but that doesnt mean that God cannot give you revelation. Bible time doesnt start Sunday and end Sunday. God is always speaking. I think people put way too much expectation on their pastors. They're just human. Remember its God who gives revelation, and he will do that through Christians, but even if you dont feel you are getting that big "ahha!" revelation every Sunday, dont for a second think its your churches fault. Make sure you are making an effort to seek God in the word too that is spoken so He can feed you. We ask Holy Spirit to fill us, not our pastors, decons, teachers etc. So in essesnse even if you were to find your speaker not quite your jive, know that God will still give you revelation in the end.
Do you have a "beef" with someone? Now the Bible makes it very clear that we arent to go to bed angry, to stew in our anger and let it become a part of us, so if there is someone within your church body that is making you angry or anything that isnt fruitful, then that needs to be addressed. Its awful to watch churches split, agrue, and have any sort of resentment towards others in the body. It needs to be taken care of. This could be the church body you need to be a part of, and hatred and all the other traits of the enemy's tricks can prevent Gods work to happen through you. The Bible warns of divisions in the church. We are warned, so when we see it happening, or are a part of it, then we should be praying and acting to make it change.
Maybe your church is teaching things that clearly arent Biblical? I know denominations may approach "church" differently and Im not really speaking of that, Im not a denomination hater at all, but maybe you do have a huge issue with things that genuinley need addressing? Then address them. Pray, seek God and if God says go then go. But its scary to think that the issue is never addressed. I think it would be devistating if no one ever spoke up about a church that was teaching something that clearly isnt scriptural (ex: the Easter Bunny and Jesus are the same thing, corney I know, but just for example) and no one ever approached that it was wrong. It doesnt mean you have to run in protesting and screaming "LIES!" but something needs to be said. And if the church says "no you're wrong" when God has shown you what He's put on your heart to be right, then I think its safe to say you go.
Think about it- the church building is a place you go to be surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ to come together and worship JESUS!!! We shouldnt be dragging our feet in there going "oh..yay..church time." We should be jumping out of bed going "YAY CHURCH TIME!" and if you are like me you add a big ol "WHEEEE" to the end (I really do love my church family near and far! ) Church buildings are not the only place we worship, we should worship Jesus 24/7 but it is wonderful to gather with fellow believers to celebrate.
I think the world has enough haters of the church we dont need them inside, and maybe like I said you are genuinly not supposed to be in that church family and God is calling you somewhere else, but please let it be His will and not your will that you want to leave. Make sure that the intentions are genuine and not happening because the enemy has tried to rip you out of a place God wants you or your flesh wants out of because of wordly reasons. Get what Im trying to say here? Church buildings are emptying faster and faster each day because Gods children cant always seem to get along and decide instead of thinking "what would Jesus do?" they do what the world says to do and thats to get angry, roll our eyes, gossip, hate, complain and every other thing that should just not be in a Christians vocabulary and run for the door. This is the enemy doing a fine job at ripping apart congregations that could have done amazing advancement for Gods kingdom. This is a perfect example and it happens far to often. So I guess in the end I wanted to write this so that I could say that I really think it needs to be God that places you somewhere, not ourselves. It may not look like what we thought it was to look like, but its where God wants us, for this time in our lives, and when we are where God wants us, then God will use it to his perfect plan and it will do amazing things for you, and/or the people around you.
