Pews at Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Puerto Vallarta, MX (FCR Photo)
Do you know the top reasons why former church members have left the congregation?
Two years ago, there was an informal study in our communities where some non-attenders were asked why they left, and the top reason given equates to apathy based on getting out of the habit or being stuck in a new routine.
Other reasons included covid-concerns (in 2021), too cliquish, death, becoming home-bound, divorce, lack of satisfaction, personality conflicts, relocation, and change in jobs or life-stage (graduation, etc.).
In Judges 6, the author starts with, “Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight.”
Could it be that walking away, or better yet, just not attending regularly, is an illness that has plagued God’s children and modern believers since the beginning of time?
With the exception of death and possibly being “home-bound”, no excuse has anything to do with worship or God’s focus on us.
Maybe the societal ills all around us are symptoms of our wandering eyes – looking for personal satisfaction instead of really falling at the feet of the Redeemer in true worship – and it’s time to refocus on our Creator.
(#23)
