WHEN IS IT RIGHT TO "LEAVE THE CHURCH?"
by Don Hooser
When is it right to "leave the church?" Can it ever be right? Would I be "falling away" if I left the church? These are monumental questions, and ones that weigh heavily on the minds of many church members.
Here is part of the answer: It is never right to leave the Church -- spiritual Body of Christ -- the group of believers in which the Holy Spirit dwells. It is usually not right to leave a church organization that you believe God called you to.
Sometimes leaving a church organization is the right thing to do even though the leaders may be urging you to "stay put."
For clarity in this article, the word Church (with a capital "C") will refer to the spiritual Body of Christ, and the word church (with a small "c") will refer to 1.) a Christian church organization, which is usually legally incorporated, or 2.) a Christian congregation.
The Bible refers to the Church as the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:22-23). Like a human body, the Church has many members with different "gifts" (Rom. 12 and 1 Cor 12). A member of the Church is one in whom dwells the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9). It is through the Holy Spirit that "Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Each member is a "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:19).
A Christian church (organization) may be composed of some who are in the Church (who have the Holy Spirit) and some who are not in the Church (who don't have the Holy Spirit).
Here is how Mr. Joseph W. Tkach of the Worldwide Church of God explained it in the April 26, 1994 Pastor General's Report:
"The Church of God, and there is only one, is not a human organization. It is a spiritual body, the body of Christ.... There is only one true Church, only one Body of Christ, and it is unified by the Holy Spirit, which dwells in every true Christian. Let's get this vital point: It is the Holy Spirit that identifies and unifies the true Church of God, not any humanly incorporated church organization. That is what the Bible teaches, and it is also what Mr. Armstrong taught. It is not correct to say that any particular church organization, including ours, is of and by itself, the true Church. The true Church includes all the true Christians in the organization, not the organization itself.... The human organizations are not the Church itself. The converted people are the Church."
This is a true explanation. To put it concisely, the Church is the spiritual organism, not the human organization.
It is a tragic disaster for a person to completely leave or "fall away" from the Church -- the Body of Christ! I say "completely", because often what we call "falling away" is more of a "straying," and the "lost sheep" can still be brought back to the fold (Matt. 18:12-13; James 5:19-20). This straying away from the truth of God's Word is dangerous, though, because it can eventually lead to a complete falling away from the Church! The farther you stray from the light, the greater the darkness and the difficulty in "finding your way back."
To completely fall away means to completely lose the Holy Spirit -- the "light goes out!" For you to "leave the Church" means the Holy Spirit has "left" you. According to Heb. 6:4-6, to completely "fall away" means it is "impossible ... to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." This happens in conjunction with a complete hardening of the heart to "sin willfully" (Heb. 10:26-31). If this needs more clarification, request an explanation of the "unpardonable sin." To reassure the readers, if you are concerned about not committing the unpardonable sin, you have not committed it -- your heart is not hardened.
What about leaving a church (organization)? Leaving a church does not necessarily mean one is leaving the Church -- the Body of Christ. There is a big difference.
One should not take lightly the leaving of a church, especially if you believe God had called you by that church. If it was God's will for you to come into that church, you must make sure it is God's will before you leave that church.
First of all, God wants you to be in a church if it is teaching the truth of God's Word. That is much better than being an isolated "loner." There is much emphasis in God's Word on group worship, on the importance of Christian fellowship and on serving together as a "body" or team to do God's work. God wants you to be willing to make commitments and to live up to those commitments.
But people can be committed to a fault. A person does not have to remain committed to a belief that he has discovered is wrong! A person should not remain committed to an organization if the organization is committed to going in the wrong direction. A person should not remain committed to a church if the church is no longer following Jesus Christ by teaching the truth of God's Word.
Let's look at marriage for an example. God wants us to be committed to our mates for life. God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16). But there are scriptural grounds for divorce -- those times when God approves of a divorce. The Worldwide Church of God defines these grounds as moral debasement (Gr. - porneia) and "habitual conduct like that of an unbeliever." The second category includes addiction, abuse, desertion or failure to provide, spiritism, habitual criminal conduct, and habitual immoral conduct. So there are several conditions when God approves of one "leaving" his mate.
Ordinarily, one should remain committed to his church. But there are several conditions when God approves of one leaving a church. Compared to a marriage, one could be called "failure to provide" -- failure to provide the true spiritual food for its members. Another could be called "spiritual adultery" -- not being faithful to God and His Word.
Most members will have small disagreements with any church. But whenever the member believes there is very serious compromising with God's Word and the problem is unlikely to be solved in the near future, he should withdraw for his own spiritual welfare and for the good of others.
And there is always the option of returning to the first church if the problems it had get solved.
When one leaves a church (organization) because it is straying away from the Church (Body of Christ), he should try to find a church that is very much a part of the Church (Body of Christ). Tragically, some have become cynical about participating ever again in a church. In many cases, they became very non-religious and even started doubting God's Word. They ended up leaving the Church, the Body of Christ, and falling away from God! We need the fellowship of true believers!
For some members, it is very difficult to leave a church. We all need to sympathize with their feelings. First of all, they often are confused and think that maybe they would be "falling away" and leaving the Body of Christ. Secondly, a church becomes a spiritual "home." We become bonded to many good friends. There are many examples of people having difficulty leaving what they are accustomed to. Most of Lot's family could not be talked into leaving Sodom (Gen. 19). Many of the Israelites feared to go into the land of Canaan even though it was the "promised land" (Num. 13-14). They even begged to return to the familiarity of Egypt (Num. 14:4). Sometimes when Jesus says, "Follow Me," we think of all kinds of "reasons" for not "leaving home" (Luke 9:57-62).
We mustn't base our decisions on emotional attachments. We must have the clear vision and courage to go where God wants us to go.
Keep in mind that one of the greatest evils is people becoming "false shepherds!" Read Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 to see how strongly God condemns those who lead his people astray. God hates counterfeits that claim to speak for God and are misrepresenting Him. Jesus said that sheep follow their true shepherd "for they know his voice" (John 10:4). All of us are responsible to know the "voice" of true shepherds -- the message of the Word of God. We should follow only those who have that "voice." "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers" (John 10:5).
Let's now take a look at the subjects of "God's government" and "loyalty." First of all, for us, "God's government" should mean to obey and be loyal to God! Also a church organization should have some kind of government and we should "obey those who rule over you" as long as they are in agreement with the Word of God (Heb. 13:17). However, when there is a conflict between what God says and what a man -- even a church leader -- says, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
God sometimes inspires the choices of the people who are put into offices in church government, but He doesn't force them to do right. He will not absolutely prevent them from falling away.
Just because God caused someone to be put into an office doesn't mean that we should follow him no matter what. Jesus chose Judas Iscariot as a disciple. Would you have continued to follow him?
God put Lucifer over all the angels on the earth. You could say that that was "God's government" because God delegated that responsibility over the angels to him. However, he used his authority to command all the angels to follow him in rebellion against God. One third of the angels followed him. Aren't we glad that two thirds of the angels did not follow him?!
3 John 9-10 speaks of Diotrephes, apparently a church pastor -- supposed to be "God's minister" -- who was egotistical and malicious. Verse 10 says, "... he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church." This was supposed to be "God's government," but he was disfellowshipping Godly church members. He probably did this because those members would not go along with his wrong teachings or actions. Do you think that they should have meekly submitted to him "because God put him there?"
Once those members were disfellowshipped, don't you think that they continued to be a part of the Church -- the Body of Christ? Diotrephes had left the Church (Body of Christ) and then put people out of the church (organization). Those he put out more than likely banded together and started another church.
Some people assume that God would never allow the leader of a church to go astray. However, even the apostle Paul knew he could "become disqualified" (1 Cor. 9:27). The Greek word for "falling away" in 2 Thes. 2:3 is similar to our English word apostasy. So Paul is saying that even an apostle can be guilty of apostasy! In Gal. 1:8, he warned them that it would be possible that he (Paul) could come preaching a false gospel. His point in verse 6 is don't turn to a false gospel no matter who is preaching it! Don't put too much faith in any human leader, because no one is infallible. All human leaders are capable of apostatizing.
There have been countless similar examples during the last 2000 years of church history. Time and again false leaders took over churches and the true believers had to leave to remain true to their beliefs. During the first few centuries, Sabbath keepers became more and more persecuted. Once Constantine made "Christianity" the state religion of the Roman empire and Sunday became the official day of worship, both the church and state authority enforced Sunday keeping. He also enforced Easter in place of Passover observance. A strong case could be made for this being "God's government," and that Christians should have submitted. But many true Christians stood up for their beliefs, many fled, and many were martyred.
When Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, there was a very serious problem with ministers -- "God's government" -- within the Corinthian church. He said some of them were "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ" (2 Cor 11:13). In verse 15 he refers to them as Satan's ministers. In verse 4, Paul was shaming the church -- the good ministers and lay members -- because he said that they would probably tolerate ministers coming to them and preaching false things.
Paul said they were betrothed to Christ (verse 2). He was worried about members being spiritually seduced to commit spiritual adultery if they listened to false teachings (verse 3). Like Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:17, if you tolerate false teachers, "their message will spread like cancer." Peter warned, "...beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked" (2 Pet. 3:17-18).
Paul kept warning the Corinthians not to let themselves continue to be exposed to wrong influences that would mislead and corrupt them. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Cor. 5:6). "Evil company corrupts good habits" (1 Cor. 15:33). "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.... For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness.... Therefore Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean..."(2 Cor. 6:14-17).
Then Paul, apparently sympathetic to the lonely feeling one has when he starts worshipping separately from old friends and loved ones, says, "And I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (verse 18).
The bottom line is Paul expected church members to not tolerate false teachings and false ministers.
When Paul said, "Come out from among them," the reason is not only for your own benefit and protection, but also for your example to others. "Silence gives consent." If you stay in a church that has gone astray, people will think you agree with it and that you condone what is being taught. You become a party to the deception. You are adding to the deception. You by your example become one of the "deceivers." God will hold you accountable.
The Bible teaches that we take a very strong stand against listening to false teachings. "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine (that they had been previously taught), do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds" (2 John 10-11).
The verbs "comes" and "brings" imply indoctrination is his purpose for coming -- coming as a teacher. The command "nor greet him" means don't show any hospitality -- don't let the false teacher get his "foot in the door" to try to preach to you. To cooperate with the false teacher meant that you would be sharing in his guilt and you, too, would be held accountable.
The above commands apply even when the false teachers come from within your own church. If you can't stop major heresies, your only choice is to leave the fellowship of that church.
Paul admonished the brethren at Rome, "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them" (Rom. 16:17).
The question each person must answer is, "Who has preached contrary to the doctrine which you learned?" Paul is admonishing the brethren, including the lay members, to avoid them -- meaning especially to avoid their preaching and religious influence.
Christ scolds the churches of Pergamos and Thyatira because they tolerated teachers of false doctrines (Rev. 2:14-15, 20).
The example of David and Saul is often cited to illustrate the principle of loyalty to church leaders. Saul was "God's government" in the sense that God caused him to be put into that office. In a sense David "remained loyal" -- not to Saul personally, but to the office that Saul held, even though Saul was mistreating him and even trying to kill him. David emphatically refused to "stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed" (1 Sam. 24:10; 26:8). What did David mean by that?
First David meant that he was not going to try to kill or injure Saul. Second he meant that he would not rebel and take things into his own hands by trying to forcibly overthrow Saul from his kingship. David left it up to God to deal with Saul.
Obviously, no real Christian would even think of killing or injuring a church leader. It should also be out of the question to consider trying to forcibly depose a church leader from his position.
But notice what David did do. He did not stay around and allow himself to be abused or killed. He fled and hid. He left Saul's organization. He set up his own organization -- his own army. David openly disagreed with Saul, but at the same time David was not trying to defame Saul.
Likewise, we must not return evil for evil or attack our "enemies", especially those in positions of authority. We must allow God to deal with them (Rom. 12:17-21). But we don't need to stay around and expose ourselves to harmful teachings.
In a way, even the civil authorities are "God's government." Notice Romans 13:1-7. Verse 1 says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Three times the civil rulers are called "God's ministers." And yet if the law or ruler requires us to disobey God, we must disobey the civil authority. "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). At times Christians have had to go from one country or jurisdiction to another to escape oppression or a wrong ideology. There is nothing sinful about that.
Likewise, sometimes a Christian will leave a church that he thinks has a wrong "ideology" or theology and go to one he thinks has a right theology. There is nothing sinful about that.
What is God's form of church government? Churches have used many forms of government. The Bible does not indicate that there is any one form that is the one and only right one. The subject of church government is a big one, and space doesn't permit going into the subject thoroughly here. The most important thing is our having an attitude of complete submission to Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22, 4:15, 5:23; Col 1:18, 2:19).
What is the best form of the human government under Jesus Christ? Should a church be headed by one man, a pastor general? If this form was clearly indicated in the Bible, wouldn't there be more churches that would have adopted this form? As it is, almost no church has adopted this form of government other than the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormons, and the Worldwide Church of God.
In the case of the RCC, what the pope says carries more authority than the Bible. In the case of the WCG, some members rely more on what the pastor general says than on what the Bible says.
We've already established that the Church, the Body of Christ, is not just in one church organization. Therefore, there is no way that one man could be over the whole Body of Christ.
We have seen what can happen when one man has ultimate authority in the church. There is a very great risk to say the least.
The bottom line is: If the human leader or leaders go astray in a big way and it doesn't seem like they are going to get back on the right path, one is fully justified in looking for a better church!
How do we know if a minister is being used of God? The minister must be preaching and living by God's Word! We must make sure a minister passes this test before we follow him. He should be one who "lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). He must be one who "does and teaches (the commandments)" (Matt. 5:19). "To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:20). Deut. 13:1-4 tells how a person should put any "prophet or dreamer of dreams" to the test.
Let's consider the example of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. In the summer of 1933 in Oregon, Mr. Armstrong was being pressured by leaders in the Oregon Conference of the Church of God to preach and act contrary to his convictions about the Bible. In a business meeting at Harrisburg, Oregon, certain leaders persuaded the members to vote to require Mr. Armstrong to baptize their way instead of the Scriptural way. Mr. Armstrong told this story in Autobiography, Volume I. On page 524, he wrote, "As soon as I heard of this action taken, I immediately wrote a letter cancelling the $3 per week salary...." He said that he did not leave the Church, but that he would not be muzzled by being dependent on a salary from preaching what he knew to be the truth. He continued for a while to cooperate with the Oregon Conference, but he was independent in his decisions about what to preach.
In 1937, Mr. Armstrong was trying to cooperate with the Salem Conference of the Church of God Seventh Day. He submitted an article that he had written to the leaders proving that Christians should observe the annual festivals of the Bible. The article was examined at a meeting of church leaders in Detroit, Michigan, May 5-10, 1937. They passed a resolution rejecting the conclusions of the article. Then in the following year Mr. Armstrong was asked to return his ministerial credentials for continuing to preach contrary to the resolution regarding Feast Days. Mr. Armstrong did not turn in his credentials and he kept preaching.
Mr. Armstrong has always said that he was never a member of the Church of God Seventh Day. But what if he had been a member? That would not have changed his decisions. His departure was based on doctrine, not church membership.
These are two examples of how Mr. Armstrong would not follow church leaders when he knew they were teaching major errors. What if Mr. Armstrong had reacted by doing nothing but "staying put" and hoping that "God will work it out"? If he had waited for God to remove the leadership of the Seventh Day Church of God or to change their teachings, we would still, today, be waiting for that to happen. God would not have used him to start what became the Worldwide Church of God.
The following is a quote of Mr. Armstrong from a Bible study he conducted in Tucson, AZ, on Dec. 1, 1980: "Whoever is the apostle, whoever is guiding and putting truth into the church must be honest with the word of God. Now, if you ever find me dishonest with the word of God, you reject me as God's apostle!"
Why have some new church groups apparently not been blessed? Because the ministers and members didn't have the right reasons or right attitudes when they left their former church.
First, the reason for leaving should be that the leadership of the church has seriously departed from God's Word.
Secondly, even if the leadership of a church has seriously departed from God's Word, those who move to another group or start their own group may not be blessed. They started off on the wrong foot, laying the wrong foundation. Following are the conditions when God is unlikely to bless their efforts:
1. When the motive is primarily resentment. Beware "lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled" (Heb. 12:15). When ministers and members have been badly hurt, that hurt can easily turn to anger and hostility. Don't allow yourself to be provoked into rash attitudes, words, or deeds. "Do not let the sun go down on your wrath nor give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:26-27). The right reason for leaving is doctrinal; the wrong reason is some personal resentment.
2. When the attitude is an egotistical assessment of one's own importance or wisdom instead of humility. Some have thought God was "speaking to them" in a special way and the "Church wouldn't listen" to their great insights. Some have thought they were apostles or prophets, etc.
3. When the main attitudes are selfish, such as greed or lust for power. A self-serving grab for money or power in the name of Christ is evil.
Therefore, beware of following any leader who has one of these wrong attitudes!
Deception can come from within a church. At Ephesus, Paul warned the elders and the same warning applies to lay members. "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch.... And now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:29-32).
The "perverse things" would be things other than what they had believed and that are contrary to the Bible. Paul directs them to the Word of God. The ones "from among yourselves" could even be the top leaders of the church. In that case, the members would be wrong to continue to follow those leaders.
God holds each of us responsible! You can't gain salvation "on someone's coattails" -- not even those of a church leader. "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God" (Ez. 14:14 -- see also vss. 9-10 and Luke 17:30-36). "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling!" (Phil. 2:12)
Each must stand up for what is right! Some have felt that if they follow their church leader into error or sin, that God will hold the leader responsible and not them. This is a comfortable and easy approach. "I don't have to think or study -- I'll let the leader think for me." The truth is, God holds the followers as well as the leaders responsible. "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them" (Eph. 5:6-7).
When there is entrenched heresy and apostasy in a church administration, the members must leave that church in order to escape that influence.
The Bible has very much to say about not following false teachers. It doesn't matter how likeable they are or how much truth they have taught in the past. God expects each of us to use our Bible as our "road sign" to determine which is the right way. When the leader takes a wrong fork in the road, you must not follow him.
In the sobering words of Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
To summarize, when a church (an organization) has seriously strayed from the Truth and it seems unlikely that it will get back on the right path any time soon, what should you do? Pray and fast and seek wise counsel for God to lead you and give you right attitudes. Then find another church -- the one that best teaches the truth of God's Word, that is best doing the Work of God, and that is most solidly in the Church, the Body of Christ. Then step out on faith with courage to do God's will.