WHY DO PEOPLE LEAVE THEIR CHURCH?

I decided to write about church people and why they leave their church body.  I’m not talking about leaving the Church Universal as recorded in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…” The term “falling away” means to depart from revealed truth, to lead away, seduce, mislead; to defect, to blind the eyes of the people by manipulating the truth; to turn one from the truth by lying signs and wonders.  The purpose of this article is to talk about why people leave their church, the local congregation.  In addition to the typical “church hoppers,” people relocating to another area, and other personal reasons, I believe there are only two major reasons why people leave their local congregation.  They leave because of flawed doctrine, flawed leadership or a combination of both.

Regarding flawed doctrine, it is horrifying to look at the number of men and women being ordained and sent forth that are preaching and treaching erroneous, even demonic doctrines, prophesying falsely and overtly misleading multitudes of people, mostly for the sake of financial gain or media coverage.  A most recent example occurred when radio evangelist Harold Camping predicted that on May 21, 2011, the world would end.  Well, it didn’t. But Camping wasn’t publicly shamed, there’s always another option — Presidency. Camping was only following in the footsteps of earlier televangelist Pat Robertson, who was so unfazed about his failed prediction for the world to end in 1982 that he ran for President just six years later.  Camping is worth more than $120 million and with 66 stations throughout the country, the network’s broadcasts reach as far as Nigeria.  Both Camping and Robertson became very wealthy because of their flawed doctrine.

Flawed leadership is a major problem for the local church.  Pastors who have struggles in their ministries tend to fall into one of three categories.  The first is a group that is too self-assured, the second a group that suffers from social discomfort or aloofness, and the third a group that wrestles with lack of discipline and organization.  This discussion focuses on the third group of pastors who struggle with a lack of administrative and leadership skills.  These pastors are typically poor time, fiscal and financial managers, bound by tradition, inflated egos, truth embellishers, make decisions in a vacuum, and have a tendency to blame the congregation for their faults through their messages and teachings.  Most people deal with enough drama in work or social environments and after a time, move on.  As a result, finances decrease and ultimately, the church fails.

I would appreciate your feedback, comments, etc. on this post.

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