Why do some see it as such a bad thing?
What exactly is wrong with being a church hopper?
- Thread starter autumn oddity
- Start date
For one church hopping is not like bar hopping where you hop from good time to good time.
No!! One needs to be rooted and grounded and disciplined and you can not get any of those things by running from church to church.
Blessings
FCJ
At last count there were approximately 34,000 Christian denominations. Each denomination has their own take on Christianity and their teachings may conflict with other denominations. That can cause confusion and instill doubt in some persons, who may eventually stray away from Christianity all together because of the conflicts.
Do some basic research and try to find a Christian organization that makes sense to you at your level of Christian understanding and stay with it - at least long enough to see if their message truly is right for you.
Do some basic research and try to find a Christian organization that makes sense to you at your level of Christian understanding and stay with it - at least long enough to see if their message truly is right for you.
Attending a church is not the issue.
Being the church is.
Make sure that you have regular (daily or near daily is generally best) fellowship with other Christian women.
Women that will push you to stay in the word, will hold you accountable when you mess up, and who help you follow Jesus in your day to day actions.
Being the church is.
Make sure that you have regular (daily or near daily is generally best) fellowship with other Christian women.
Women that will push you to stay in the word, will hold you accountable when you mess up, and who help you follow Jesus in your day to day actions.
Look for a church where the Bible is preached and taught. When it is you will know it. You will see the pastor reading from the Bible and teachers using the Scriptures to open your heart to God's Word.
When that happens, my advice is stay there and allow that teaching and preaching change you. When we can look out ourselves and see what God sees when He looks at us, then we can grow and understand and be motivated to be a witness and soul winner for the Lord Jesus Christ.
The local church is how God instills in us a family connection, and if we do not plug in and instead pursue a church-hopping pattern, then we are to God like delinquent children. What child of ours runs from neighbour to neighbour looking for dinner, when mom has a nice homecooked meal of his/her favourite foods waiting on the table?
To me people make this to hard and about their personal taste. I once was that way but have since learned a thing or two such as.......
God has a Church where He wants you plugged in. It may not be the closest church or the one with the cool music you like but it will be where His Grace and Provision is waiting.....
Seek God......Find out what church......Go to that church......Stay at that church Until He Moves you elsewhere. It really is that simple and wise.
Blessings
FCJ
God has a Church where He wants you plugged in. It may not be the closest church or the one with the cool music you like but it will be where His Grace and Provision is waiting.....
Seek God......Find out what church......Go to that church......Stay at that church Until He Moves you elsewhere. It really is that simple and wise.
Blessings
FCJ
I've always thought that a local congregation should have a family-type atmosphere. In view of how we are told to love one another and sacrifice for each other in the Scriptures I don't see how it could be any other way. Granted, if there is heresy or something else going on I can see the need might arise to go elsewhere, or if one is in the military or some other occupation that has someone needing to move at times. My wife and I attend a small, rural congregation and we have been there over 10 years. The only time we ever came close to leaving is when we had a pastor that was just...well....terrible. We decided to just pray and be patient. We then started getting contacted by others who were contemplating the same thing, and it ended up being over half the congregation. The pastor got confronted about his ungodly ways and he left. It turns out the other members were all feeling the same but were being patient hoping it would all work out. No one really wanted to leave because there was such a close spirit of family...and there still is. If the word of God is believed, taught and submitted to, and if we love each other...no need to hop.
Don't worry about it. Jesus did it! Synagog to synagog spreading His message. Go for it! Let the Spirit lead you.
Don't worry about it. Jesus did it! Synagog to synagog spreading His message. Go for it! Let the Spirit lead you.
Sorry if I'm reading too much into this, but the example of Jesus going from town to town is not comparable to the modern "church hopper"
Even Jesus had a group of men whom He was accountable to, pretty much a church body.
Not to mention Jesus was preparing those who would build the church.
While we should be led by the Spirit we are not free to claim our impulses or feelings are always led by the Spirit. Scripture reveals how the Spirit leads and what He does. Romans 12:5 tells us that we are one body in Christ and that we are members of one another. Ephesians 2:19-22 speaks of the church body as a sort of temple, Christ the corner stone, and "the whole building being fitted together" into a holy temple of the Lord and we are being "built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." Later in chapter 4:1-6 we are told to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit...one body...one Spirit. Ephesians 4:25 says we are members of one another. Philippians 1:27 tells us to strive together for the faith.
No but we are commanded, told and shown that we should be and need to get developed in this area....
Blessings
FCJ.
No argument there. My point was the Spirit who inspired the Scripture is not going to lead us to do what is opposite from what is revealed in the Spirit-inspired Scriptures.
Amen now if believers would just learn this.
I have heard believers insist the Holy Spirit told them to do things which in fact was opposed to the Written Word of God.
Which sadly enough is simply deception.
Blessings my friend
FCJ
Yeah mine wasn't 5hat great either... I didn't want to leave bc it was convient meaning I could walk there..but I hate how I was being treated ...it didn't get any better so I had to go. Once I find a better church ill definitely stay. Thanks for the reply
Leaving a congregation because of unbiblical, ungodly conduct by the church body toward you does not mean you are a church "hopper." It really depends on the situation. A church "hopper" (to me anyway) is a perpetual malcontent...someone who constantly goes from congregation to congregation to congregation with no place ever quite being good enough for them.
That brings up something I have experienced far more than I care to think about.
My wife and I are looking for a place of fellowship and have been for several years now. Because we haven't found one we are labeled as 'malcontent' (to use your word) and constantly reminded that "no church is perfect". Magically, once we are so labeled or admonished, anything else we have to say on the issue is completely ignored. After all, that is far easier than admitting the possibility that there just possibly might be something wrong with the church or even with many churches.