In less than 2 weeks time, CCL will host its final evening event for 2016 titled Can we talk about same-sex marriage? Tony Payne (Director of CCL) and Michael Kellahan (Executive Director of Freedom for Faith) will be speaking. Freedom for Faith is a Christian legal think tank that advocates for freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of association, with the hope that people from all religions, and none, will have a voice at the table in the important debates of our time. In order to hear some thoughts from Michael before the event we asked him to answer a few short questions …

What sort of indications have you seen that it’s getting harder for Christians to express their views on same-same marriage openly in our society? 

The clearest legal warning comes from Tasmania where the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, Julian Porteous was held to have a case to answer before the Human Rights Commissioner. The complaint arose from the publication of a very gentle pamphlet that set out a Catholic understanding of marriage. In NSW complaints have been made to the Education Department about churches from the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), who sometimes have spoken about homosexuality, meeting in public high schools. These kind of actions have a chilling effect – making everyone tread carefully around these issues. Talk of potential for harm in a plebiscite campaign obviously has raised public awareness of these concerns.

Why do you think Christians often find it hard to speak up on these issues in the workplace or among their friends?

Because their beliefs are seen as loveless, evil and harmful for a vulnerable minority. Christians are seen as being on the wrong side of history and against the great justice issue of our time. In this cultural framework who would speak and be seen as a bigoted homophobe?

Do you think it’s important for Christians to have a voice in the same-sex marriage debate? If so, why?

Yes. Because answering ‘no’ would be to buy into a secular framework that excluded religious people from the public square. Clearly we all have different beliefs when it comes to marriage. But it’s important not to exclude some beliefs – instead we need to find ways to live well together and listen to those competing beliefs with respect. The alternative is an identity politic that leads to division. The parliament will need to make a decision on same sex marriage (again!). As citizens we should take an interest in laws like this that have such significant consequences. As Christians we should be concerned to love our neighbour in the laws we have.

If legislation to permit same-sex marriage becomes law in Australia, what sort of implications do you think will follow for Christians and the gospel?

The state will be asked to enforce this new understanding of marriage against a significant number of Australians who, in good conscience, will never change their views on what constitutes a marriage. The consequences of this would be real and significant for free speech, employment, discrimination laws, the freedom of faith based schools and organisations to associate on the basis of their beliefs, the linking of tax and charity status or government tenders and funding to a denomination’s position on marriage – and much more!

To register for the evening or for livestream head over to our events page.
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2nd Year Moore College student, Peter Hynes, explores how the church family can care for and lift up those who are enduring the physical, emotional and spiritual distress of chronic pain.

Serving Silent Sufferers

by Peter Hynes

At church, we have a godly elderly lady who has been suffering with chronic pain for many years. In her thirties, she lost her job as a nurse because of it. However, she told me that the hardest thing for her was when she had to drop the thing she loved most, serving God in a Christian youth camp.

Her story isn’t unusual among believers, nor is the struggle to find acceptance in the midst of such constant pain. As Christians, we are all called to support one another. How can we help those suffering with chronic pain on their journey from denial to acceptance?

In this short article, we will look at some of the specific problems afflicting people with chronic pain, at how the Bible helps us understand such pain, and at some practical applications for ministry.

Living with pain

For people with chronic pain, simple things become mountains to climb. Chronic pain sufferers describe it as living with a reluctant body or like being trapped in a cage. Their body stops them from doing many of the normal things other people take for granted. It is even worse when their pain has no easily identifiable cause or treatment, as is often the case.

All of this often creates a discontinuity between past and present—between the healthy self that the sufferer once was, and the incapacitated self they see in the mirror. What they took pride in or was dear to them gets taken away: job, independence, hobbies, relationships. This is often devastating for someone’s sense of personal identity. Over time, chronic pain sufferers often feel helpless and trapped in negative cycles.

To make things worse, as they are forced to adjust to a less active and more dependant life, they feel a degree of shame. Self-esteem plummets, guilt sets in, to the point where some start even hating themselves. Strain is put on every relationship, inside and outside the family.

The biblical background to chronic pain

The Bible has a lot to say about suffering. Suffering can be as (1) a consequence of sin, either personal sin or (2) because of the fall. It can also be because of (3) persecution, or as (4) a means of discipline.

Suffering as a means of discipline is a category that stands separate to the others. Like suffering because of persecution, it is specific to the people of God, (Heb 12:5-12). God does indeed use suffering as a means to achieve his goals. That is why we need to maintain the right attitude of submission as we face suffering (1 Peter 5:6). God may be shouting to us in our sufferings, to rouse us out of our deafness, he may be teaching us to cling all the more to him, to be more dependent upon him (2 Cor 12:7).

However, we need to be careful of applying this too quickly to chronic pain—as if we might know what God is specifically teaching us through our ongoing suffering. As demonstrated in both the story of Job, and of the man born blind (in John 9), it is a mistake to quickly or glibly draw a conclusion or a lesson from someone’s suffering. In fact, it can be a way of spiritualising or relativising the evilness of suffering by giving it a purpose that may not be there. The motivation to jump to this conclusion is that it is not suffering that destroys a person, but suffering without a purpose. And so we look for a specific purpose, even though that purpose is not revealed to us.

Chronic pain is best thought of as being one of the ongoing consequences of the corruption and decay of our world (Rom 8:18-27). It can teach and discipline us, as all pain and suffering can, to turn to God and put our trust in him, even though we may not be able to discern any particular cause or purpose for our suffering.

In all of this, the best comfort is Jesus Christ. In the Gospels we never hear that he suffered from the natural consequences of the fall. Rather he walked among people afflicted by pain and suffering of all kinds, showing compassion towards them. He not only healed the unclean, he touched them. The pain he suffered in his body was all the consequence of other people’s sins. The suffering servant in Isaiah 53 shows the extent of what happened. He knew what sickness is, because he knew what sinless creation was. He knew what pain and sickness were because he carried ours himself. The solution to man’s crisis of hopelessness, helplessness and despair lies in the crucified Christ, who suffered precisely the same helplessness on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21).

Ministering to people with chronic pain

We must first recognise that everyone is different in their response to grief, and chronic pain sufferers go through similar predictable stages. The stages vary but move from denial to acceptance. Our task is to accompany them along this difficult journey. We must give space and time for weeping, help the sufferer to trust in the face of profound mystery and never stop praying.

One thing we must continually remind the afflicted is that Christianity offers the greatest and most satisfying basis for hope. We believe in a personal God who gave himself for us. We have the hope of the resurrection to true life.

We must be strong on the theological issues that are under attack; the goodness, the sovereignty, the justice and the love of God.

We also need to deal graciously with any sentiments of guilt. This may arise from the loss of capacity. The desire to serve may still be strong but the body won’t cooperate. Guilt may also arise (quite rightly) from sin, such as seeking relief in the wrong places. When living in constant pain one can be lured into temptation by an offer of short relief. Grace doesn’t come cheap, and we mustn’t ignore sin. However, God does freely forgive the repentant sinner, and longs for his return.

What many people find particularly hard about chronic pain is not only the apparent purposelessness of the suffering but also its open-endedness—not knowing when (or if) it will end or where relief is to be found. As such, pain is a vivid reminder of the reality of hell (Luke 16:19-31). Although relief should be sought wherever it is possible, suffering can draw us closer to God. We grow in love and thankfulness as we become aware of what we have been saved from (Luke 7:36-50).

It is here that we experience our greatest treasure. By nature, we seek our identity in the things we do or have. When these are stripped away, we are left with what is our only true identity, the only one that really counts; our identity in Christ. While we may be feeling that God is abandoning us, Jesus experienced the real absence of God for us.

As Christians we have a great and sure hope in eternity. Yet we mustn’t neglect shorter term hope either. God will restore the sufferer. It may be in this life time (John 5:5-9) or in the life to come (Rev. 21:4). Hope can be found in searching the promises of God and helping people find their worth in him. Although it is also encouraging to help chronic pain sufferers by helping them set goals and find new areas of ministry, we mustn’t forget to give them assurance that God will keep them (Rom 8:31-39), that he will not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear (1 Cor. 10:13). This means that he promises to give strength for today (2Cor 12:9-10).

We conclude with what Martin Luther so insightfully saw— that when we look at the appalling spectacle of Christ dying on the cross, we are forced to concede that God does not appear to be revealed there at all. And yet, is there anywhere in history where God was more intimately involved in his creation?

Bibliography:

Ash Christopher, Job: The Wisdom of the Cross. Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, 2014.

Carson D. A., How Long, O Lord? Reflexions on Suffering and Evil. 2nd ed. Nottingham : IVP, 2006.

Dallob R. M. et al., ‘Psychological Perspectives’. Pages 75-91 in Chronic Pain Management. Edited by Carol Banks & Karen MacKrodt. London: Whurr Publishers, 2005.

Keller T., Walking with God through Pain & Suffering. London : Hodder & Stoughton, 2013.

Martin, Jennifer. ‘The 7 Psychological Stages of Chronic Pain’. Pain News Network. 14 September 2015. Accessed 13 April 2016.
http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2015/9/13/the-7-psychological-stages-of-chronic-pain-illness

McGrath Alister E., Luther’s Theology of the Cross. 2nd ed. Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Mackrodt Karen, ‘Living With Pain Through the Eyes of the Sufferer’. Pages 155-185 in Chronic Pain Management. Edited by Carol Banks & Karen MacKrodt. London: Whurr Publishers, 2005.
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When it comes to thinking about our bodies, Moore College student Karina Brabham challenges us to shift our gaze from the world to Christ.

Putting our bodies in focus

by Karina Brabham

We live in a world where how you look matters. We take multiple selfies so we can choose which one makes us look best and upload it to Instagram. We spend billions of dollars on cosmetics. We continually compare ourselves to the person standing next to us. And we all have at least one thing that comes to mind when we’re asked what we’d change about our appearance.

I’m no exception. As a teenager, I worried a lot about what people thought of me, because of how I looked: I was tall and skinny, which translated (in my head) to looking like an awkward stick insect. It stressed me out that most of my clothes were hand-me-downs that expressed the personality of their original owner more than mine. (I definitely wasn’t a fluoro shirt kind of girl!) I had this idea of who I was (or at least who I wanted to be) that didn’t fit with the picture I was showing the world each day. I hated this feeling.

Body image is an issue for all of us. Up to 35 per cent of women are unhappy with their physical appearance, and so are 28 per cent of men. Poor body image can also be the first stop on the way to more serious problems—like mental illness or eating disorders. While God has been incredibly kind to me in that my view of myself has never developed into something that threatened my health, my attitude towards my body image is still something for which I keep having to shift my focus. As a Christian, I’ve realised that this starts with, firstly, understanding who God says I am and, secondly, understanding what God has to say about the body he has given me.

In contrast, we often listen to the voice of the world, which tells us that physical appearance matters and so the bodies we have matter. I’m not just talking about our idolisation of beauty, accompanied by the constant barrage of good-looking people on our screens; in the individualistic society of the West, our physical bodies matter because they tell others who we are—our personalities, our hobbies, our gender. We display all these markers about our identity on our bodies. We treat the physical mass of flesh as our canvas, malleable to the idea of “This is who I am”. And when our bodies don’t speak the message we want—when they fail to live up to our idea of “self”—we’re unhappy with our bodies.

Yet for the Christian, our identity isn’t wrapped up in our bodies. We’re called to find our identity in Christ. So what are we meant to think about the physical selves we inhabit? Here’s three principles for considering our bodies afresh in light of the new people we have become through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Each of these challenges us to shift our focus from a limited worldly viewpoint to the grander vision of Christ.

1. Our bodies belong to Christ, so let’s serve him with them

Contrary to what the world would say, our bodies are not our own. 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20 says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body”. The Apostle Paul is telling the Corinthians that what they do with their bodies matters. The same idea appears in Romans 6:12-13:

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

If we also consider ourselves “members of Christ”—that is, those who have new life—we need to live that out through what we do to our bodies and with our bodies.

Firstly, this starts with an attitude change: no longer should we think along the lines of “It’s my body; I’ll do what I like with it”, but instead, we need to embrace the unity we share with Christ as those who belong to him. When you brush your teeth in the morning, those teeth belong to Christ; when you lift weights at the gym, those arms belong to Christ; and when you eat a Big Mac for dinner, that stomach you’re filling belongs to Christ. Our bodies belong to Christ, and they should be used for Christ. They are the earthly vehicle we’ve been given with which to glorify Jesus. And when we do that, we display the wonder of Christ. After all, Isaiah tells us beautiful feet belong to the one who brings good news (Isa 52:7).

Taking this to a practical level, this means we need to consider Christ more in the decisions we make about our bodies. How are we using our bodies to bring glory to Christ? If we’re constantly dieting or exercising to bring glory to ourselves, that’s a problem. If we’re spending time and money on making ourselves look good, instead of prioritising investment in the gospel, that’s a problem.

But I don’t think that this should become an excuse not to care about our bodies or appearance. If we eat junk food and never exercise, that impacts the health of our bodies: research shows that an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise leads to lack of energy, mood irritability and increased susceptibility to more serious health issues. All of these habits have a negative impact on our bodies and on our ability to serve others. While this doesn’t mean we should feel guilty if we can’t run a marathon, or when we enjoy a slice of cake with our coffee, it does mean we need to assess our motivations for what we’re doing or what we’re not doing.

Ask yourself what you need to change in order to maximise how you glorify Christ with your body. Is it ensuring you get sufficient rest on Saturday night so that you aren’t struggling to stay awake during the service on Sunday morning? Or is it forgoing the monthly manicure to instead support a gospel ministry financially?

2. Our bodies are part of one body of believers

Secondly, we are not just individually saved to Christ, but in our salvation, we become a united people—the body of Christ. We become part of a new “body”. While this is an idea expressed in metaphoric language, it captures the profound unity Christians share with one another through Jesus. The reality of our identity as God’s gathered people means our focus shifts from ourselves to the bigger picture of the community that Christ has made us.

This unity needs to be displayed clearly in how Christians act towards one another (1 Cor 12:25, Eph 4:1-4). We are to love and care for another using our individual bodies. Service is active—whether it be speaking, listening or doing—and it involves our physical bodies. I’ve known and benefitted from this kind of service in so many ways—through the families who’ve cooked a meal and invited me over, the friend who taught me to drive, the guy who fixed my washing machine free of charge, and the elderly ladies who prayed and wrote me letters of encouragement when I went overseas on high school student exchange. Their actions were diverse, but they were all fuelled by hearts that loved the Lord.

There’s a wonderful beauty in the diversity of God’s people brought into community together. Our bodies are different, but we are still one Body. It’s not about dressing the same, having the same skin colour or speaking the same language; it’s about Christ. Together we highlight what unites us among the diversity God has gifted us in each other.

3. We look forward to a physical resurrection

Thirdly, our future is a physical one. When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, he revealed that his risen form was not as a spirit or ghost, but “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). So the resurrection we look forward to is a bodily resurrection. Yet Paul also makes clear that there is some inherent newness and heavenliness to our future bodies: in 1 Corinthians 15, he describes how our current perishable and weak physical selves will be raised powerfully as imperishable bodies who “bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor 15:49). We can’t know the specifics of what this all means yet, but it does help us understand what our attitude to our bodies should be now.

When our skin starts to wrinkle, our hair turns grey and our bones start to ache, we are reminded that our bodies are perishable and we can rejoice in what’s ahead. Again, the Bible challenges us to shift our focus—from a temporary view of our bodies to an eternal one. If we are spending too much time dwelling on the beauty of our appearance, the Bible rebukes us and helps us to remember that there is something greater to come. What’s more, the greatness of our resurrected bodies has less to do with our own sinful ideas of beauty, and more to do with God’s own definition of what is good for those made in the image of Christ.

 

When it comes to our bodies, we need to lift our understanding out of the sin-ridden worldview of the now. We need to look to Christ, who brings us new life through his own body and heralds for us God’s eternal kingdom of perfection. With this gospel vision saturating our minds, how we value our bodies should be transformed too.
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30-year-old professional Christine is burnt out and in need of a holiday. She’s always wanted to go on a cruise, but is also keenly aware that her church is currently behind budget and struggling to pay staff.

18-year-old Jin feels called to the mission field. He is interested in studying music at university, but his parents want him to pursue medicine, and he wonders if becoming a doctor would be more helpful for mission work.

60-year-old Lindsay is concerned about his best mate, Nikolaj: Nikolaj seems to be going through a rough patch, what with the sudden death of his wife, getting retrenched and developing arthritis in his hips. Lately he’s been asking Lindsay big questions about pain, suffering and why a good God would allow such things to exist. Lindsay isn’t quite sure how to respond: he’s keen to point his friend to Jesus, but struggles to find helpful things to say.

Have you ever found yourself in situations like this? Have you ever struggled to know what to do or say? Deep down, you feel like you should know, because you were created by God for the good works he has prepared for you. But the way forward is not always clear.

This is where it’s useful to think about ethics. I know what you’re thinking: “Ethics? How is that useful? Isn’t that another one of those nebulous concepts armchair philosophers like to throw around?” But the core of the idea is that it’s a moral framework that helps us figure out how to live.

As Christians, our knowledge of God’s plans and purposes as revealed in his word means we already have a moral framework to draw from. For us, right and wrong is determined by God’s will: we know lying is wrong because he said, “You shall not bear false witness” (Exod 20:16); we know that loving others is good because he said, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18).

But Christianity is not a set of rules—as if what to do or how to think is going to be exactly the same for every situation. Christianity is about relationship—relationship with our creator and King. As CCL Director Tony Payne writes:

moral demand on us is, in one sense, simple and universal: love God and love your neighbour. No-one is exempt from this, and no-one has a higher obligation than anyone else. It’s a truth that addresses every one of us identically. And yet the landscape in which we live out this singular command is complex and varied, and as individuals we are complex and varied. (The Briefing #343, April 2007)

The purpose of the Centre of Christian Living is to help you figure out how to live out that command— how to bring biblical ethics to everyday issues—how to live as a Christian in the world. All our events, podcast episodes and web content is geared towards this.

However, our 25 May event is slightly different: whereas in the past, our speakers have addressed specific everyday issues, this special half-day course aims to help you think biblically about any issue, whatever it might be. Tony Payne and Chase Kuhn will outline a simple framework for bringing the Bible’s view of reality to how we should live in the day to day. In other words, it’s a course on how to do Christian ethics.

We hope you will join us. Find out more about “A very short course in Christian ethics”.

This article is reproduced with permission from the Autumn issue of Moore Matters.

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Scott Williams makes the case for why you should prioritise your youth leaders.

Pastors! Your youth ministry is already doomed

Scott Williams

If you’ve stepped foot inside a youth group in the last decade, you’d see that youth ministry is pretty simple and boils down to three main areas: maturing the youth, growing the youth group in number, and making sure the youth leaders are spiritually healthy. But is it that simple?

Many pastors, when surveying their youth ministry, find themselves looking at what I call the youth ministry triangle:

This means that in practice, their ministry tends to look like one of the following:

• Option 1: Mature Christian youth + healthy leaders: Pastors who choose to spend time growing the Christian youth to maturity in their ministry, while making sure the youth leaders maintain healthy boundaries and are supported in their own personal godliness. Nothing is done about helping the group to grow in size. This option breeds complacency and lacks urgency in evangelism. Eventually this youth group prayer-huddles itself into nothing.
• Option 2: Healthy leaders + numerical growth: Pastors who choose to focus their time on training and equipping youth leaders in evangelistic technique and apologetic prowess. The leaders reach the youth of the world with Christ under God’s sovereignty, resulting in many more youth joining the fellowship. However, this option leaves the newly converted youth wondering, “What now?” Awkwardly the converted masses stand about asking each other what the Old Testament is doing in their New International Versions while their leaders are off chasing new converts. Eventually many end up falling away.
• Option 3: Numerical growth + mature Christian youth: Pastors who choose to invest everything in numeric growth and Christian maturity in their youth ministry. They fill the calendar with amazing Friday nights, mid-week Bible studies, evangelistic events, amazing holiday camps and prayer retreats. This exciting ministry does it all. Or does it? This option burns out the leaders, damaging the youth group from the inside-out. Now who will minister to all these young people?

So what’s the right option? The benefit of picking two is that it shows us that something is going wrong and reveals our desire to set our own course. But the answer is not to choose two points of the youth ministry triangle, but just one.

The question is, which one? Choosing between “mature Christian youth” and “numerical growth” reveals our tendency to favour one direction over another. But choosing both could indicate an unhealthy desire for our own success. Instead, we should choose “healthy leaders”. It seems counterintuitive, but investing in leaders is the best way to grow a youth ministry. This is because healthy leaders bear healthy fruit: they help the youth to mature in Christ and also cause numbers to grow.

So prioritise your leaders with prayer, care and attention. By leading and supporting them in their Christlikeness, personal maturity and Bible knowledge, their own God-given gifts will flourish in your youth ministry. God has created us with an infinite variety of gifts for his service (Rom 12:4-6). So as you nurture your leaders, you’ll see some of them focusing on growing the believing youth, some of them seeking the lost and some of them being useful in other ways altogether.

The bottom line is that your youth ministry is already doomed if your leadership replaces God’s. But by God’s grace, your youth ministry is literally not just one part, but a body made up of many parts. So instead, focus on your leaders and let God set the agenda for your youth ministry.
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William Quach looks at what the Bible says about church and offers some helpful advice to those looking for a change.

So you’re thinking of changing churches

William Quach

Have you ever felt like going to church isn’t encouraging anymore? Maybe the sermons are dull and the conversations you’re having with people consist of the same old small talk. Perhaps you feel like you’re not really growing anymore in your walk with God. Maybe you find yourself thinking, “Hmmm, what about that cool church in the next suburb?”

But changing churches is a significant move for Christians. What are the biblical considerations we must take into account when thinking about leaving a church? What are some of the reasons to do so specifically mentioned in the Bible, and what are some of the grey areas? Before we get into any of that, however, we need to look at what the Bible says church is and what it is for.

What is church and what is it for?

When the Bible talks about the “church”, it generally refers to a local regular gathering of God’s people. The church is the community of God’s people united in Christ where Christ is present through the preaching of his word. You can say we’re a family with God as our Father as the Bible describes our relationships with each other in filial terms: for example, the apostles greet their readers as “beloved brothers” numerous times (e.g. Rom 14:10-23; 2 Thess 2:13; Jas 1:16), and Jesus calls those who do the will of God his brothers and sisters over and above his natural family (Matt 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35). This means that when God calls us to love one another and spur each other on, it carries on the filial vibe.

Furthermore, the local gathering is a visible representation of the invisible reality of all of God’s people gathered before God’s throne in worship and praise (Heb 12:18-24). It is testimony to God’s mighty power, reconciling people to himself and to each other through Jesus Christ, effected by the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:8-12). It is about God bringing near those who were once without hope, alienated from God and his people, through the blood of Jesus Christ (Eph 2:12-13; 2 Peter 2:9-10).

When God’s people gather, it is to meet God in his word. The word is preached and spoken to each other for mutual encouragement so that we grow in faith, love, unity, and godliness (Eph 4:11-16; Heb 10:24-25). As we gather, we show to the world and the heavenly realms God’s wisdom and love in bringing such a diverse people together and giving them purpose, hope and life (Eph 3:10).

When should you leave your church?

Given this glorious picture of what church is for and what it’s supposed to be like, is there ever time when it’s good and right to leave yours? Here are three good reasons.

Firstly, you should leave if your church is engaging in false teaching. I’m not saying you should leave when you suspect there’s a bit of it; leave when you’ve done all you can to point out the falsehood (including speaking to the leadership about the falsehood and how it impacts the congregation) and seen no effort to change (cf. 2 Cor 11:1-15; 2 John 7-11; Rev 2:12-29). A church that spreads false teaching is not one you should be part of.

Secondly, you should leave if you do not see any church discipline. By this, I mean sin is not being dealt with in the congregation so that it goes on to impact other people in the church (1 Cor 5; Rev 2:18-3:6). For example, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul calls upon the church to discipline the sexually immoral person. The reason for doing so is twofold: it’s for the good of the sinner—that he may see the severity of his sin and repent (v. 5)—and it’s for the good of the congregation—that they might not follow him in his sin (vv. 6-7).

Thirdly and finally, you should leave if you are given the opportunity to serve God elsewhere. The church sends people out to serve. This could be sending them to be trained as missionaries or sending them for theological training. Take Timothy, for example: he left his home to go with Paul, and later on, Paul left him at Ephesus to serve the Ephesian church and other churches too. If God has called you to serve him somewhere different, you should obey.

What if I’m not feeling fed and encouraged?

Often, however, our desire to leave church is not because of false teaching, lack of church discipline or God’s call. Often it’s because we feel spiritually malnourished and discouraged.

Here we are moving into a grey area: this is not something explicitly mentioned in the Bible. Your church may not be functioning the way that it should (i.e. people are not being mutually edified). But at the same time, we can’t expect all churches to be perfect.

When we feel that we’re not being fed and encouraged, a good place to start is self-reflection: ask yourself, “How may I have contributed to this?” For example, do you feel bitter towards the leadership for some reason? Have you closed yourself off to relating to others at church? If you disagree with the direction of the church, why is that the case and have you spoken to anyone about it? If you’re not serving in the church, why is that the case? If you are serving, then, how does that contribute to your feeling of wanting to leave? The reason why reflecting on serving is helpful is because many people feel disengaged at church since they’re not serving in some way, or they feel like their gifts are not being used to build up the church. After some self-reflection and prayer, reach out to the leadership to talk through your issues. Remember, church is family: there may be ups and downs and hurts, but we’re still family—a people who are one in Christ. This means our first response is always to try to make things work.

Self-reflection and reaching out to the leadership could make a positive difference to church and to yourself. It could also reveal that your motivations for changing church are ungodly. It is not a sin to change church, but it can be done in a way that is divisive and undermines the leadership. So if you have taken all reasonable steps to try to make things work, then perhaps it is time to explore other churches where you could serve and be edified.

(For further reading on this topic, see Simon Flinder’s little booklet, Time to go: the what why and how of leaving church.)

If you enjoy this article, be sure to check out others like it in our 2018 annual.

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