The question of whether to leave one church for another is a tricky one, usually involving multiple dynamics personal, theological, preferential, geographical sometimes, and missiological. Of course, there are others. Some reasons are God honoring, but not all reasons honor the Chief\u00c2\u00a0Shepherd\u00c2\u00a0of the church.\u00c2\u00a0The genuine Christian who desires to glorify God in all of life’s decisions will want to honor Him in this one. The whole question is\u00c2\u00a0wrapped\u00c2\u00a0up in our view of God, the nature of the church, and the nature of the\u00c2\u00a0Christian\u00c2\u00a0life.<\/p>\n
Of course, our own membership here at DSC is comprised of a number of people who came to us from other\u00c2\u00a0churches\u00c2\u00a0around town, and our membership process includes learning about the circumstances of those moves. And, of course, a number of our members have left over the years for other churches.<\/p>\n
So how are we to think about “switching” chuches? When is it right, when is it wrong, and how do we know?<\/p>\n
Jason Helopoulous has organized a number of\u00c2\u00a0legitimate\u00c2\u00a0and illegitimate reasons under three helpful headings in a post, Good Reasons for Moving On<\/a>, published to Kevin DeYoung’s blog about a year ago now. I found it helpful and commend \u00c2\u00a0his wisdom to you.<\/p>\n In brief, here’s his outline:<\/p>\n Good Reasons for Moving On \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Four P\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/strong> Possible Reasons for Moving On \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Three S\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/strong> Reasons Often Used Which are Insufficient<\/strong> Read the whole article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also, over the years a number of sermons have been preached at DSC on the subject of the church. Three message topic categories are worth highlighting:\u00c2\u00a0The Nature of the Church<\/a>, Church Issues<\/a>, and Church Membership<\/a>. Specifically related to the shape and priorities of DSC, Ryan preached a three part series at the start of 2011,\u00c2\u00a0Worship, Community, Mission<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n1. Providential moving
\n2. Planting another church
\n3. Purity has been lost
\n4. Peace of the church is in jeopardy due to my presence<\/p>\n
\n1. Spouse
\n2. Special Needs
\n3. Special Gifts<\/p>\n
\n1. Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ministry
\n2. Buzz
\n3. Youth Group
\n4. Church has changed
\n5. New Pastor
\n6. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m Not Being Ministered to
\n7. Music
\n8. There are others\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n