Leave Church to Follow Jesus

By Jeff

I’ve ordered a book titled “Life after Church.” The author (Brian Sanders) used to be a pastor in a traditional church but now he leads a house church network called “Tampa Underground.” www.tampaunderground.com

The title of Sanders’ book intrigued me because I have become acutely aware of people looking for Jesus outside the walls of church. In my 5 plus years here, I’ve probably known at least half a dozen people who have left church (I might have contributed to their leaving, not sure) in search of a deeper relationship with Christ. Following Christ literally led them away from church.

There was a time when that would have sounded heretical, and to some people it still is. But, knowing these individuals, I can safely say without a doubt that it is their faith in Christ and desire to follow his agenda which led them away from the larger church’s agendas for their lives.

Leaving church is a popular thing these days, at least in the West. It’s estimated that 50,000 people leave church every WEEK in the U.S. They leave never to return, or at least not to return to traditional forms of church. Contrast this with a number I heard the other day…23,000 are added to the African Church every DAY!

Sanders writes about the stages that people go through in leaving. He outlines them as follows:

1. General: Optimistic, hopeful, positive about church experience

2. Disaffection: Physically present, emotionally absent, thinking about leaving

3. Threshold: Physically present, emotionally absent, experimental leaving

4. Full Exit: Physically present, emotionally absent, uncommitted to anything

5. New Beginning: Join something new, Start something new, embrace a vision

I know people in all of these stages. I’ve been in each myself. There are faithful, mature, model disciples who are thinking about leaving church. As a staff person, this usually leads to “how can we keep you” kind of thinking. But, that’s wrong. Instead, we should help people “embrace a new vision” and start something new.

I sent out a copy of the first chapter of “Life after Church” to some of my friends here at DBC and some who have left. They responded with where they are on the “leaving scale.” Most of the responses fell along the lines of losing intimacy with Christ amidst all the church activity, being emotionally attached but ready to leave, growing by leaps and bounds personally but being more isolated in church and unsure about leaving but excited by the potential of starting something new.

This may all sound very negative. But, in fact this movement of people away is often very positive if people listen and learn instead of writing leavers off. I want to be helpful. I believe God is doing something new in the hearts of people. He is creating unrest. He is leaving us hungry and willing to chase Him even if it means leaving the walls of the church. If this is true, then the future of church may look very different than what we have known.

I’ll review the book once I’ve read it. You can download the intro and first chapter from www.ivpbookclub.com.

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