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What’s the deal with these Church hoppers?
Well what do you know- the Pew Institute recently found out what local Pastors figured out a long time ago-there is no such thing as church loyalty anymore. “Church hoppers” and “Spiritual Lone Rangers” are terms used by local clergy to describe Christians who move from church to church without any spiritual covering. The Pew’s 35,000 person poll labeled: “The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” found that 28% of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another one. And if you include those who move from one Protestant denomination to another, that figure would jump up to 44%!
On the surface this may seem like a loyalty issue, but one must look deeper to find out the real reason for all this church movement. Various reasons such as marriage, disappointment and hurtful experiences with the local churches, and people looking for the perfect church, lead people to church hop. Others simply don’t desire to experience true faith community because they don’t like the accountability to grow in knowledge and understanding of the requirements of being a follower of Christ. They wish to stay attendee’s instead of moving on to contributors.
My personal belief is that many today are just fed up with “Religion” because they now realize that Religion is just an empty experience that never leads to the abundant life promised us by scripture. True lifestyle change can only occur when one experiences a true personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus himself condemned the religious community by calling them clean on the outside while being filthy on the inside. God created us with an innate craving to know our creator. The problem with Religion is that it will never fill the craving to “know God” because it only allows us to know “about God”.
So, any bloggers out there church hopping right now? What excuses have you heard for people moving from denomination to denomination? Has anyone out there given up on church membership? Why?
Comments
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By Nelson
February 26, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this
Hello pastor, You have listed most of the reasons that I have either used or heard. One thing I didn’t see was balance. My aunt used to tell me that too much of a good thing was just as bad as too little.
What are we neglecting so that we may be seen as important in our churches? By the same token, what are we doing to support the spread of the Gospel?
If someone is volunteering/working in your assembly and you knew they were neglecting the rest of their life, I feel you should show them their errors. Just as much as if they were neglecting their discipleship.
I have seen people hide from life in a church. There are also some that hide church from their lives, as I did for many years. Either way, how would anyone see Christ at work in us?
I feel that without seeking a balance in our walk of faith and our lives as a whole, we may lose sight of the most important thing. Our saviour Christ Jesus.
By sis
February 27, 2008 9:12 AM | Link to this
If it was anyone who was a church hopper, it was I. It was passed down to me from my mother. We attended a catholic church and then someone she didnt like from her past started going and so we left. Another church, same story, just this time it was a family member she didnt get along with. Then we just stopped church all together. Once i graduated high school, i wanted to get back into church, i felt something telling me i needed somthing more..i went to every donomination thinkable…trying to find myself. I love the way you put it about knowing about God rather than of him. I learned what i was ” supposed to do and not do ” What i could go to hell for, how many times i needed to say what prayer or attend church to recieve salvation. - I was so blessed to finally find a church that tought me to know my God and finally fill the empty place inside. Dont get me wrong, even my church and members have hurt me in numerous ways, bringing back the feeling of wanting just to leave the church. But thank God i was taught to attend church for God not for the people. I have to thank God for my experiences of church hopping because once i found my church i knew it was the right one. If anything, One thing i learned from visiting all sorts of denominations was to encourage people not to seek religion, it will confuse you more than anything, seek God and trust he will put you where you belong.
By KDF
February 27, 2008 4:34 PM | Link to this
First, a church needs to believe in the deity of Christ. Secondly, we must ask ourselves, “what can I do for the church”, not “what can the church do for me?”. Beyond that, I believe, it is personal on what church we attend.