3 min. read
“If a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” — C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters
Church hopping is a major reality in the present-day US American church. There is no denying it.
Pastors bemoan it. And many who practice it find little wrong with it. But why would I say it sucks? Because I’m at a loss for a more astute word choice? Not at all.
Pros and Cons of Church Hopping
I recently read this article that stated some of the pros and cons of the church hopping practice. It made some good points. For example, weren’t Jesus and Paul church hoppers?
In a sense they were. But each of them kept a group of traveling companions with them that they poured their lives into. That was their faith community: a small web of relationships.
Another article I came across here tried to compassionately defend church hopping. The writer defended those who were church hopping because of their hurts that came from toxic church environments. This is a valid point.
A Theological Argument
Let’s say you are reading this and you identify yourself as someone who has hopped from a church or two before. I’d ask you why you did so. You’d reply with your reasons.
I’ve actually asked this question several times of friends who have left a church seeking another one. Beside the toxic church environment, the reasons I’ve heard have to do with not being fed, or not being ministered to, or the preacher stepped on their toes, or the children’s ministry wasn’t as flashy as the one at some other church.
Let me just say, that these reasons do not sound like the grievances of a disciple seeking to follow Jesus. They sound like a disgruntled shopper.
Church — and by “church” I don’t mean a building or a worship service, but rather the assembly of believers in the name of Jesus Christ — is to be an equipping ground for doing the work of Jesus in the world. It’s not about getting fed, or having diverse ministries or hearing things we will always agree with.
If we looked through the lens of authentic discipleship, we’d hop churches less often.
But this is just a theological point. The real reason church hopping sucks is …
Relationships
The authentic discipleship I’m referring to is about relationships within the Kingdom of God.
If you hop from church to church, you never develop in Christ-centered relationships.
If you don’t see a role of ministry being filled, you work with those you are in relationship with to fill it.
If you feel convicted by something you hear in the faith gathering, you flesh that out in an honest and accountable way with fellow followers of the Way in your community.
If you don’t like the way something is being handled, you take a few friends with you and have a loving conversation about it.
See how all of this takes place in the context of relationships?
Relationships are messy, painful, confusing. I get that. But relationships are also the only way to seek the presence of God that inhabits God’s people.
Relationships are the only way to find your identity in Christ.
Relationships are the only way to mature into the likeness of Christ.
Relationships are the only way to be part of God’s Kingdom on earth.
If you continue to hop from church to church, you are depriving yourself of the relationships you need to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
And that sucks.
So Tell Me Something
Do you agree or disagree with my take on church hopping? And why or why not?