This is post number two in this series on biblical reasons for changing churches.
People primarily think of negative reasons for leaving a church. We tend to only think about things that are out of line with Scripture as the primary reasons to switch churches. Please do not hear what I’m not saying. A church out of alignment with Scripture is a biblical reason to move your membership. However, The Bible provides positive reasons for leaving a church and healthy churches will frequently experience these departures.
What a Healthy, Sending Church Actually Looks Like
I had an opportunity to sit with a prominent pastor–he is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. His heart was to train leaders and send them out to plant churches. He shared about a time when church planters were recruiting members to uproot their lives and join their core teams around the globe. The church planters went around the room and began to tell him some of the names they were going to take with them as these new churches were launched all over the world.
He told me these were not just any members. These were some of the key people on leadership teams, volunteer teams, and mission teams. In his words, “they were the cream of the crop.” God gave his church a vision to plant churches, and God was moving people towards that end. Therefore, one of the characteristics of a healthy church is not their seating capacity, but rather their sending capacity.
This story leads us to our first positive reason for leaving a church–God may be calling some of you to switch churches for his global mission. Yes, God calls people out of healthy churches to serve others and fulfill the Great Commission.
What the Early Church Knew About Releasing Its Best People
We see this in Acts 13. Under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke records what occurred during a worship service at Antioch. This church was in a posture of worship and fasting–a spiritual discipline I believe needs to be recovered in the West (Acts 13:2).
The Holy Spirit said to the group, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2b). Oh, to be a fly on that wall. Was this an audible voice from heaven or did someone prophecy to the group? We are not given the specific details, but we are told that they all heard the Spirit’s prompting to send Barnabas and Saul and responded by “laying hands on them,” and sending “them off” (Acts 13:3).
Notice the two names: Saul and Barnabas. These are not just average Christians. These are not just members who probably did the bare minimum. These guys are, to use the phrase of that prominent pastor, “the cream of the crop.” Barnabas was known as the encourager (Acts 4:36). Saul was a theological giant who would write 13 letters of our New Testament (maybe 14 if he’s the author of Hebrews). God called them to leave Antioch for the purpose of ministry–i.e., missionaries to the Gentiles.
How Your Church Should Respond When Someone Feels Called to Leave
A possible and positive reason for leaving a church is because God calls you to go. Maybe God calls you to go start a ministry at another church because he knows you have the tools needed for that role. Maybe another church needs some encouragement to stay on God’s path during some difficult seasons. Perhaps God sends you to the mission field. Sometimes God calls people to move churches because he has another plan for them to advance his kingdom.
A healthy church is going to be a sending church. If you are making disciples who make disciples, that brings a culture of growth and transient membership. Growing disciples are going disciples. A church that trains called men will see called men go. A church that values service and stewardship might see some of their servants and stewards go to help other churches do the same.
As a church, we would do well to celebrate and send them out with joy-filled prayers.
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