John Bevere Answers: ‘When Should I Leave My Church?’
John Bevere Answers: ‘When Should I Leave My Church?'
I’m often asked, “When should I leave a church or ministry team? How bad does it have to get?”
I respond, “Who sent you to the church you presently attend?”
The majority of the time they answer, “God did.”
“If God sent you,” I reply, “do not leave until God releases you. If the Lord is silent, He is often saying, ‘Don’t change a thing. Do not leave. Stay where I have placed you!’”
When God does instruct you to leave, you will go out with peace, no matter what the condition of the ministry: “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace” Is. 55:12, KJV). Therefore, your departure will not be based on the actions or behavior of others but rather on the Spirit’s leading.
So leaving a ministry is not based on how bad things are. To leave with an offended or critical spirit is not the plan of God. It is reacting rather than acting on His guidance. Romans 8:14 (NKJV) says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Notice it does not say, “For as many as react to difficult situations, these are sons of God.”
Almost every time the word son is used in the New Testament, it comes from the two Greek words teknon and huios. A good definition for the word teknon is “one who is a son by mere fact of birth.”
When my first son, Addison, was born, he was John Bevere’s son by mere fact that he came from my wife and me. When he was in the nursery in the midst of all the other newborns, you could not recognize him as my son by personality. When friends and family came to visit, they could not pick him out except by the nametag above his crib. He did not possess anything that set him apart. Addison would be considered a teknon of John and Lisa Bevere.
We find teknon used in Romans 8:15–16. It says that because we have received the spirit of adoption, “the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children [teknon] of God.” When a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord, he is a child of God by fact of the new birth experience. (See John 1:12.)
The other Greek word translated sons in the New Testament is huios. Many times it is used in the New Testament to describe “one who can be identified as a son because he displays the character or characteristics of his parents.” As my son Addison grew, he started looking and acting like his father. When Addison was 6, Lisa and I took a trip and left him with my parents. My mother told my wife that Addison was almost a carbon copy of his daddy. His personality was like mine when I was his age. As he has grown, he has become more like his dad. He now can be recognized as John Bevere’s son, not only by the fact of his birth but also by the characteristics and a personality that resemble his father’s.
So, to put it simply, the Greek word teknon means “babies or immature sons,” and the Greek word huios is most often used to describe “mature sons.”
Looking at Romans 8:14 again, it reads: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons [huios] of God.” We can see clearly here that it is the mature sons who are led by the Spirit of God.
Immature Christians are less likely to follow the leading of the Spirit of God. Most often they react or respond emotionally or intellectually to circumstances they face. They have not yet learned to act only on the Spirit of God’s leading.
As Addison grows, he will progress in character development. The more mature he becomes, the more responsibility I will entrust to him. It is wrong for him to stay immature. It is not God’s will that we remain babies.
One way the character of Addison has grown is by facing difficult situations. When he started school, he met up with some “bullies.” I heard some of the things these rough kids were doing and saying to my son, and I wanted to go and deal with it. But I knew that would be wrong. For me to intervene would hinder Addison’s growth.
So my wife and I continued to counsel him at home, preparing him to face the persecutions at school. He grew in character through obeying our counsel in the midst of his suffering.
This is similar to what God does with us. The Bible says, “Though He [Jesus] was a Son [Huios], yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Heb. 5:8, emphasis added).
Physical growth is a function of time. No 2-year-old child has ever been 6 feet tall. Intellectual growth is a function of learning. Spiritual growth is a function of neither time nor learning, but rather of obedience. Now look at what Peter says: “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Pet. 4:1, emphasis added).
A person who has ceased from sin is a perfectly obedient child of God. He is mature. He chooses God’s ways, not his own. Just as Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered, we learn obedience by the difficult circumstances we face. When we obey the Word of God that is spoken by the Holy Spirit, we will grow and mature in times of conflict and suffering.
Our knowledge of Scripture is not the key. Obedience is.
Now we understand one reason why we have people in the church who have been Christians for 20 years, who can quote verses and chapters of the Bible, who have heard a thousand sermons and have read many books but still wear spiritual diapers. Every time they meet with difficult situations, rather than responding by the Spirit of God, they seek to protect themselves in their own way. They are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). They never come to the knowledge of the truth because they do not apply it.
Truth must be allowed to have its way in our lives if we are going to grow and mature. It is not enough to give mental assent to truth without obeying it. Even though we continue to learn, we never mature because of disobedience.
John Bevere is a popular speaker at conferences and churches and the author of best-sellers The Bait of Satan and The Fear of the Lord. He is host of The Messenger TV show and directs Messenger International ministry. This article was excerpted from his popular book The Bait of Satan.
From the same author who recycled the covering error.
First of all, what is church? Second of all, we are in covenant with the entire body of Messiah…not an organization. Third of all, we should follow Christ in community within our everyday lives….its kind of hard to leave a church when it is in your everyday life….unless you plan to move or change jobs…then its an oppurtunity to be sent out. The only reason we are talking about such things is because churches are represented by doctrine and style, rather than by a community of people who live everyday life together in Christ. Its not an organization I can leave, its an organism you participate in.
All John Bevere is doing is providing a rules of engagement and protocol for this smorgasboard of church organizations we have on every corner that you pick according to your pet doctrines and style.
From the same author who recycled the covering error.First of all, what is church? Second of all, we are in covenant with the entire body of Messiah…not an organization. Third of all, we should follow Christ in community within our everyday lives….its kind of hard to leave a church when it is in your everyday life….unless you plan to move or change jobs…then its an oppurtunity to be sent out. The only reason we are talking about such things is because churches are represented by doctrine and style, rather than by a community of people who live everyday life together in Christ. Its not an organization I can leave, its an organism you participate in.All John Bevere is doing is providing a rules of engagement and protocol for this smorgasboard of church organizations we have on every corner that you pick according to your pet doctrines and style.
SimeonsCry I know we disagree, but I believe Under Cover is an important book, as is A Tale of Three Kings. So many are abandoning biblical, healthy submission to authority, to the detriment of themselves, the lost and the church.
By definition, church, Ekklesia, is a gathering under governmental leadership. No matter how much people try, you can’t avoid the biblical precedent for human leadership. Old Testament and New. Apostles, prophets, etc. give leadership to the greater body… advancing according to the missions God has given them. So, when we ‘leave a church’ it means that we are separating out from the leaders and the body we are connected to.
johnburton SimeonsCry
John, by definition ekklesia means “called out ones”….this means that the people are the church. It has nothing to do with being under church government. Paul actually planted many churches across Asia Minor and only years later told Timothy to go back and recognize eldership. That means before Timothy went back, these biblical churches were functioning without leadership.
I think thats the problem with many churches, is we think the foundation of church is based on the leadership of the churches. So before we “plant” a church, we need to develop its leadership, find a building, etc. in most situations…..Rather than planting a church based on obedience to Yeshua’s commands, and letting leadership grow from within the people that you planted the church with.
Biblical leadership is servant leadership. Servant leadership never points to itself as a place of government and obedience, but rather points to Yeshua as the place of obedience and His government as being worthy to be obeyed.
Sadly, most leaders see discipleship as teaching doctrine or experience, rather than teaching people to obey the commands of King Yeshua. Most leaders in the church also see the sermon as the pinnacle of disciple-making rather than small group discussion and accountability. Sermons do not make obedient disciples of Yeshua and they provide no accountability. You just throw you seed on the water and hope that it grows. I”m a house-churcher so we don’t do sermons anymore (was discipled by your friend Victor and Bindu Choudhrie and George Patterson), but one idea I had for sermon-based churches to provide accountability is just to have “testimony time” each week before the sermon for how the teaching and Word of God the week before was obeyed and how it changed lives. This will give much more accountability for obedience to the Word of God than just sitting and listening to sermons week after week and not knowing if your sermons are making impact or not when you go on to your next sermon.
But ideas of “covering” and “church government” come when we do not know how to operate and live within the government of God with Yeshua as King and obedience to Him is the foundation of our disciple-making.
Remember the Great Commissions…. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. TEACHING them to OBEY all of YESHUA’S COMMANDS.”
We need to teach obedience to Yeshua’s commands, and not teach them to rely on obedience to us.
I know we disagree, but I believe Under Cover is an important book, as is A Tale of Three Kings. So many are abandoning biblical, healthy submission to authority, to the detriment of themselves, the lost and the church.
By definition, church, Ekklesia, is a gathering under governmental leadership. No matter how much people try, you can’t avoid the biblical precedent for human leadership. Old Testament and New. Apostles, prophets, etc. give leadership to the greater body… advancing according to the missions God has given them. So, when we ‘leave a church’ it means that we are separating out from the leaders and the body we are connected to.
It’s time for babies to grow up. So little teaching in the church today about living a Spirit-controlled life.
When leaving a church, leave as quietly as you were when you entered it. There was no welcoming committee, no brass band waiting for you when you arrived, and so leave just as quietly as you entered the church, and don’t try to start an exodus. If you did something wrong, seek to make things right and leave quietly (repent and move on), seeking to destroy a church will only bring God’s anger and judgment on you. If the leaders of the church you are leaving were wrong, forgive them, pray for them and leave quietly, God will deal with them, if they seek to make things right, allow them to, and after it is over if you feel that you still must leave, then do so quietly.
Pastors rarely know why someone suddenly decides to leave a church, and this is an indicator the Pastor doesn’t care!
I’ve pastored for more than two decades, and I can tell you it’s not true. Pastors care, but pastors aren’t mind readers. The stress pastors are under is extreme, and the ability to connect with everyone in the church is not usually possible. Few can truly be intimately connected with more than 10-12 people. That’s it. The rest must connect with other leaders, friends in their small groups, etc. If someone has an issue, it’s their responsibility to go to the pastor and explain the situation. It’s only fair. It’s the only way the pastor can know what the problem is.
I like your reply, though I am not buying it. Not for you per se but what I have seen. It is true Pastor’s do not intimately connect with their Congregation. Actually its not really a good idea or Pastor’s need to be selective because I have seen those who “are in” with Pastor be abusive with an attitude they have authority. I have watched hundreds who the Pastor knew walk out the door and the Pastor never made any attempt to contact them and inquire. Why? Don’t know? Often it is known that if you tell the Pastor you are leaving, they’ll tell you God sent you to “their” Church and God has not told them you are to leave. Sad but true. However, this is not always the case and I called my Pastor in Virginia Beach to tell him I was attending another church and he was most gracious and supportive. I left my last church because I discovered my Pastor was a preterist. No need attend a church where the leader doesn’t even know what time it is? Strange because my friend John Bevere is the one who told me I should attend there.