Let’s be real, we have more devotion to our crappy football teams than we do to our own churches. If we don’t like what the Pastor said, what he wears, how bad the coffee is, or what the worship sounds like, we walk.
Let’s talk about 3 big problems with church hopping.
1. When we jump around to find the best church, we become consumers. When congregants act like consumers, churches are forced to adjust. Jesus isn’t a product and churches are not businesses. However, we all know that demand breeds supply.
2. Just like you don’t get to pick your earthly family, you don’t get to pick your church family. The church is broken people who have come together to create a clear picture of Christ to the world; you are a part of that picture. We are all quick to believe God has a plan for us, so we must also believe God has a plan for us in the church we are part of as well. Families grow stronger by sticking together through hard times; the church is no different.
3. Moving congregants creates slow movement for the Kingdom. It creates a lot of lateral movement, but no forward movement. As we move churches over and over we don’t put down deep roots. It creates a culture where we lack real authentic relationships; a culture where we don’t contribute, but we only criticize. It slows down Jesus’s message to the world that is meant to come through us. Not only does church hopping rob us of growth, but it robs Kingdom as well.
Growing up, I watched my dad toil as a Pastor, and now I work in a church myself. Here is a truth I’ve learned: churches don’t run on pastors or staff alone, and they sure as heck don’t run on half-hearted church hoppers. Churches run on die hard, ride or die volunteers who are willing to give it all for HIS Kingdom, regardless of what season in which the church finds itself.