Churchhopping: Why I Believe Extensive Church Bouncing is Sin

This is an article that every Christian who really loves and wants to please Jesus Christ should read.

I have a confession to make. This paper has been stirring in my heart for quite some time. I write this at a time when I am at a crossroads when it comes to church membership. I have been attending this certain church in town for almost two years. About maybe a year ago, I have felt a stirring in my spirit that is hungry for something the church I attend cannot give me. My wife, who has attended this same church for eight years, has had a similar experience. I don't think it has a lot to do with the pastor of this body either. In fact, I will go so far as to tell you that this man went out of his way to make my wedding to happen.

But in the past year, I have noticed that every Sunday, going to church has been a chore, and not a delight. When I return home from service, I often leave feeling exhausted, and not envigorated. Something that SHOULD be there--simply isn't. And also things that shouldn't be there plainly are. Bickering, gossip, fornication, people who live lifestyles which are not Christian keep this awesome body of believers from really growing in what can be done for God, what can be done for Christ. We should be focused on winning souls to the Kingdom of God, and not on denominationalism, party spirit, etc. And we most certainly should not be aiming our bows and arrows at each other.

Something happened to me today that I am still trying to absorb. My pastor, whom I love dearly, came to my job talking to me about some triflin' nonsense that happened between himself and my wife at the school I teach at regularly. I am glad he called me to a private corner, but still I do not feel that the professional venue was the place that those differences should have been hashed out. Why, what if my principal had walked up to me and asked what on earth was going on?

I most certainly do not want to make this decision and leave with resentment in my heart towards my Man of God. So before my wife and I make this decision, we will fast and pray many a day.

Before leaving a church, I highly recommend fasting and praying. We must fast and pray about where God wants us to go. When I say pray, I would say we must fast and pray to a Being who is not only capable of hearing, but is capable of answering back. Jesus Christ is not a silent God. He is a Being with a Voice. We must be willing to seek to get to know that Voice. So spending time on our knees seeking His Face daily, in silent meditation and in the Word of God becomes very important.

But we must ask in faith, nothing wavering (James 1: 5). We must believe that He eventually, after much fasting and praying, will give us the answer that we seek. We must know that He is a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11: 6).

Not only must we ask in faith, but we must ask with the intention of committing ourselves to one church body. You see God is a God of commitment. He is a God of covenant, as He has demonstrated by instituting marriage. Indeed, the act of Holy matrimony is to one person of the opposite sex that you promise to love and cherish until death do you part. Not to several. You see, just as bedhopping is sin--churchhopping is also sin. Make no mistake about it: As a Believer, God wants you in place, in a specific church body of His choosing, under a Man of God of His choosing. In Jer 3: 15, He says that He will give us "pastors after His own Heart." Indeed a problem we have is one with commitment. We are not able to commit to anything for long. We promise to love and cherish our wives until they begin to look too old for us and they become a burden to us more than a joy. Likewise, we are willing to commit to a pastor until he asks of us something we can't "hang with." Definitely that attitude will take us to Hell, to the depths of eternal destruction.

You see, the Body of Christ is pretty much like the human body. As the hand, the arm, the elbow, the tongue, are all important to the functioning of the human body, so it is with Christ's Body. When all of its members are in place as they should be, the organization as a whole worldwide functions as it should, concentrating on the goal it was called to, which is gathering souls into the Kingdom for our Soon-Coming King.

I am saying all that to say this: You are called to a place in God's vineyard. A very specific place that has made room for your giftings--a place where your particular God-given talents will be valued and appreciated. We are not called to take the cafeteria approach to church: Go to one church one Sunday, take a few pieces of food we like from that body, and go over across town to another church, collect a few things we like from there. Then on a third Sunday, go to a totally different building. That is church hopping, and that is sin. We must seek God about joining a specific church, and getting under a pastor, a man of God we trust to bring the word to us. Taking such an approach, indeed, will stymie your growth as a believer, and you will also weaken the Body of Christ as a whole. As the human body is sick when everything is not functioning as it should--so it is with the Body of Christ.

In order for such a body to work, it needs fully committed members who are willing and ready to submit to the leadership of the pastor. It needs people totally sold out to building the Kingdom of God, and acquiring the tools from the mouth of the shepherd that are geared toward equipping men and women for the advancement of the Kingdom. And indeed, churchhopping is counterproductive to this end. Get settled, get in a body, get under a specific leader and get ready: Our Lord needs you.