By Elaina Ayala
“The Church is supposed to be a family not a corporation”.
“The Church is full of hypocrites”.
“The Church just wants your money”.
As someone who has been on staff at a church for more than 12+ years, I can tell you, people have all sorts of ideas about the church and what it should or shouldn’t be.
I’ve also found that people leave churches for all sorts of reasons.
Many people will leave one particular church and go to another. For some, they might move from one city to another and therefore need to find a new church. Others may have a good connection at another church – maybe a friend or family member attends there, so they feel more comfortable. For others, the culture or values of one church simply resonate better with them, or better meets the needs of their family. God will certainly call some people to make such moves! I thank God when someone finds a great church that causes them to love, give, and serve with a fuller heart that before.
Unfortunately though, for many, there is residue of bitterness in the mix when they leave. Usually when people leave the church disgruntled, it’s because their expectations weren’t met in some way, and it was enough to make them cut ties and even criticize the Church as a whole. They had a certain idea about what the church should be and do, and they became disillusioned when it didn’t match those ideals. It really, really sucks when that happens. I feel like I should say that again, it REALLY sucks when that happens. I actually hate when that happens, it’s very sad for everyone involved. No one wins when a believer leaves a church offended, no one expect the devil.
Sadly, I have seen many people leave the church, stop serving God altogether, and completely wreck their lives in the process. Some actually do this under the guise of “exposing the Church”. Barf. Nothing stinks worse than an offended person trying to divide the church. God’s blessing isn’t there, honey.
The Church is first off a place of worship. The premise of worship is selfless devotion to our God. The love we have for Him compels us to love others, serve, and be generous. There are benefits, of course, to having a relationship with such a wonderful God – He meets all of our needs, heals our broken hearts, and establishes us by blessing our lives. We get in trouble when we view the church leaders/members, as those who will meet those needs. Only God can do that.
WHY I LOVE THE CHURCH
On the flip side, I have seen hundreds of thousands of people come through the doors of the church, surrender their lives to Jesus, cultivate community with other believers, and truly flourish in their faith. Over time, we see the change in their countenance; their eyes shine brighter, their speech becomes more gracious, and their entire lives begin to reflect the blessing of God. They may walk through hardships, like every other person does, but as they put their faith in God, He sees them through and He gets all the glory.
I love the Church for this reason. I love that when all hell breaks loose in a sinner’s life, they know where to go – they go to church.
According to the Bible, the Church (Greek: Ekklēsia) is a gathering of those who have been “called out” or “summoned” by God. Simply put, you as an individual Christian, are not “the Church”. We, when we gather together, are the Church.
While I love big churches, I also love the small gatherings – we need both. I look forward to a day where all believers can appreciate the fact that each of us are reaching people that the others are not, and instead of bashing one another, we would thank God for one another.
WE ALL HAVE A SPECIFIC ASSIGNMENT
• I thank God for the home church that is reaching Hickory Street (I just made that up, but I’m sure there are people reaching Hickory Street somewhere in the world!)
• I thank God for the mega church that is streaming their services into the living room of a lonely widow who has no transportation to get to a church.
• I thank God for the women’s group of 5 that faithfully pray for the United States on Wednesday nights.
• I thank God for the church that focusses on raising leaders, who will in turn, lead many to Christ.
• I thank God for the home group that visits nursing homes.
• I thank God for the church that raises thousands of dollars for missions projects.
The list could go on and on. Here’s the point: If you are a Christian, please do the work God has called you to do and don’t criticize the work of other churches. There is no “they/them” in the Kingdom. We, together, are the church.
Heart & Life 