Should you leave a church? It depends. Leaving a church ought not be a
flippant decision. It ought not be done based upon emotions; but rather,
principles and convictions, done prayerfully.
One of the more common questions that I am regularly asked by web visitors is whether or not they should leave their church, for one reason or another. Here are some words of wisdom from Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980), from his excellent book titled, “Dr. Rice, Here is my Question...,” pages 269-270:
My pastor is against lodges, but he does not openly condemn them. I want my name removed from the roll so I can go to a church which teaches separation. Am I right?
I am glad that you want to please the Lord in living a separated life, However, I fear you are making a mistake in pulling out of the church.
In the church of Corinth were a number of bad heresies and many people had fallen into sin. Yet in his letter to them, Paul never indicted that Christians should come out of that church. You should prayerfully consider staying in the church, keeping fellowship with an many of the Christians as possible, trying to please them and hoping to be blessed by their fellowship.
I was only a young preacher when I joined the lodge. How sad it would have been if some Bible-believing Christians, knowing better than I did, had forsaken me. I was really an honest and earnest soul-winning Christian, though uninformed on matters of separation. My father used tobacco until his death. He ought not have done it, but he was an earnest Christian. Spurgeon used tobacco until a year or two before he died. We must have loving kindness, forbearance and charity toward people who do not have as much light on some matters as we may have. It is much easier to be right on these outward matters of the dance, movies, tobacco, and the lodges, than it is to be right on the power of God, the fulness of the Spirit, and brotherly charity and kindness.
If your pastor did not believe the Bible, if he were a modernist, and if attending the church there meant support of modernism, then I would think you ought to come out. But the Scripture does not say, “Be not yoked up with believers”; it says, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” We would not be right to say that a man who uses tobacco or a preacher who is timid about preaching against some popular sin or a church member who attends the lodge, is thereby an unbeliever.
I trust the Lord will give you real charity of heart. Why don't you stay there and be patient and kind and love people? Outward separation is not enough. You need the love and power of God to win souls and help Christians, and then others will be impressed with your convictions.
SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Dr. Rice, Here is my Question...,”pp. 269-270; © 1962, Miss Viola M. Walden.
I agree with Dr. Rice. I once had a woman write to me, many years ago, who said while babysitting her pastor's children, she found a video tape of the worldly animated TV show, South Park. She was offended by it and asked if she should leave the church. I kindly told her that her pastor and his wife had placed great trust in her by allowing her into their home, and trusting her with their children. I advised her to ignore it. Her pastor is a human being, imperfect, and she ought not judge him by the movies that he chooses to watch. I told her to look at what the church is accomplishing for the Lord, and not the weaknesses of her pastor. Is the church a soul-winning church? Does the church reach out to the local community with the Gospel? Does the pastor only use the King James Bible? These are the matters that concern me. I care not what the pastor watches on television; but rather, is he getting the job done for God? Is he feeding God's flock? A man is not defined by what HE IS, but by what HE DOES!
I think it is important for us to be loving and patient with others, especially those who profess faith in Christ. Dr. Jack Hyles (1926-2001) is so right in something that he often said, what is, “The Christian army is the only army in the world that slays its wounded!” Religious people are often the meanest, most unforgiving and grudge-holding people in our American society! Sadly, the divorce rate amongst professed Christians is equal to that of the heathen world. I do not see the blessed “fruit” of the Holy Spirit in most Baptists today (Galatians 5:22-25). Instead, they are mean, hold grudges, indifferent, uncaring, selfish, self-centered, proud, fail to express gratitude, and are very superficial in their Christian life. Something is very wrong with their walk with God!
I am going to share a secret with
you my friend... THERE ARE NO PERFECT CHURCHES! The best Christians are still
people, and people at their best are still sinners! Christians are sinners. If
you have a church to attend, you are fortunate. All around the world there are
no churches at all to attend! An imperfect church is the ONLY type of church
that you will find. Perfect churches don't exist. A critic is a critic is a
critic! Pastor Jack Hyles was the greatest preacher of the 20th century in my
humble opinion. I just added some more MP3 sermons to my collection, which now
has 2,612 masterpieces by Dr. Hyles.
In my opinion, there is no preacher today who surpasses Brother Hyles'
greatness as a pulpiteer.
Pastors Shamefully Using the Holy Bible to Justify Sin
The
big problem that I have encountered is ungodly Christians who are complacent
in their indifference and apostate condition. One associate Baptist pastor
(from Bob Jones University) refused to let me attend church services on Guam
(going along with his backslidden senior pastor, i.e., his boss). To justify
their decision not to let me attend church services on Guam, he literally
quoted Acts 15:37-39, “And Barnabas determined to take with them John,
whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who
departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the
contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the
other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus.” That is so
wrong for a pastor to pervert this passage of Scripture to ban somebody from
simply coming to church. Paul wasn't denying John Mark permission to attend
church!!! That is crazy! These shameful local pastors on Guam are manipulating
the Word of God, to justify holding a grudge against a brother in the Lord.
James 5:9, “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned:
behold, the judge standeth before the door.”
Paul didn't trust John Mark, to depend upon him as his companion to do
missionary work. John mark had quit on a previous mission's trip. Barnabas
wanted to give John Mark a second chance, but Paul didn't, so Barnabas took
John Mark with him, and Paul went his own way. It is gross theological
negligence to misapply this Scripture to justify holding a grudge, denying
someone who needs brotherly fellowship in a church family.
Nobody Wants To Be Where They Don't Feel Wanted
It is tragic that any person could ever feel unloved in a church. I once heard Evangelist Les Ollila make the following beautiful statement...
“Church is a place where people should be able to hurt out loud. And I should be there to put my arms around those who are willing to hurt out loud.” —Evangelist Les Ollila, from the MP3 sermon, “The Judgment Seat Of Christ.”
Sadly, the local Bob Jones University camp down the street from me on Guam violate this truth 100%. Nobody was hurting in 2013-2014 as much as me in their local Baptist church (which I attended for a year), yet they kicked me out over my rightful stand for the King James Bible (and my faithful stand against the Alexandrian perversions). The senior pastor is a graduate of Northland Baptist Bible College (now thankfully defunct). The school was founded by Dr. Les Ollila. Beware of Confusing Churches! I have nothing personal against Dr. Ollila, and have learned some great truths from him (such as the quote I just shared with you), but there is much HYPOCRISY in the Northland Baptist Bible College and Bob Jones University camp. THEY TALK THE TALK, BUT THEY DON'T WALK THE WALK!!! I've never seen such ingratitude, grudge holding, shallowness, lack of genuine concern, phony love, apostasy and horrible indifference toward truth, as I have seen firsthand from the Northland Baptist Bible College and Bob Jones University camps.
Dr. Ollila is 100% correct that church should be a place where people can hurt out loud, and believers ought to embrace that person with God's unconditional love. Unfortunately, they don't do what they preach! I have openly voiced my soul's hurt in several e-mails to the independent Baptist church's pastors down the street from me, but they have cold-heartedly shunned me away, one assistant pastor even lying to me, telling me to go elsewhere, refusing to even pray with me, and setting their brother at nought. It is wickedness!!! God pity those ungodly reprobate pastors, who should all be fired. I can't wait until the Judgment Seat of Christ.
