LEAVING A LOCAL CHURCH

I have been attending churches for 49 years and have been pastoring for over 20 years so I have seen a lot of people quit attending local churches. Most of the time they are for the wrong reasons. I don't say there aren't some right reasons, but the vast majority of "church tramps", as my Grandfather used to call them ("tramps" in the sense of hobos, bums, etc.), have invalid and unscriptural "reasons" for leaving.

One example is a fellow who quit a church I was pastoring because "He never preaches on _________." I don't remember the specific subject he named but at the time I did because I had just preached on it recently. But since he only came occasionally on Sunday mornings, and never on Sunday or Wednesday nights he didn't know what I preached over two-thirds of the time! His excuse was either a lie, or just that, an excuse.

A pastor friend related to me that a man told him he couldn't come to church because he has milk in the refrigerator! When asked what that had to do with it he smiled and replied, "Really preacher, isn't one excuse just as good as another?" Someone has said, "An excuse is a lie stuffed in the skin of a reason." Reasons for not doing something are by definition, well, reasonable. Excuses? Well, reasonableness not required. A missionary said, "He who wants to do something bad enough will find a way. He who doesn't will find an excuse."

More later...