I've been thinking a lot about people that I know who have left the church. It strikes me that the church as a body doesn't do well in relationships with people who have left the fellowship. So it raises a question for me:
If the church is supposed to be the Bride of Christ, why does she act so much like a jilted ex-girlfriend when someone leaves?
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I was just talking about this the other day with a friend, and I've seen it happen way too many times. I don't know why it happens but when it does, It breaks my heart, even more so because once or twice I've gotten caught up in it myself. We should all be ashamed when it happens because it goes directly aginist everything we teach and believe as Christians. I think maybe we just get so caught up in our "church" that we forget why our church exsists, and when someone leaves, we take it as if we have been dumped for something or some place better, so we make it personal, then the ugly side of us takes over.
You know, it's interesting, when I wrote that blog, I was really thinking of people who leave the church all together, who after walking with the Lord walk away. But you're both right--we do the same thing when brothers and sisters go to a different expression of church, a different member of the body of Christ. Shame on us too, I suppose when we get mad about the sheep who jump pens.
My heart really breaks even more though for those who after leaving their Christian walk behind become abandoned or feel abandoned by their former friends who are believers. We shun them when we should be reaching out.
Thanks for your comments, guys. Any solutions out there?
I have heard of some 24-7 prayer rooms that have had success with praying prodigals back home. Miraculous stuff like people who had had nothing to do with their former church or the Lord for years who were prayed for on Friday night in a prayer room and walked in "out of the blue" on Sunday morning.
There's a ministry.
As for preventative measures, I think having a Spirit-filled church is the hands-down the best method to prevent people from leaving. It isn't foolproof, some will always walk away, but simply making sure that your church is as healthy as possible in the life of the Spirit has to be the number one goal.
Wow, Kristi. Thank you for your honesty. It seems silly in some ways for me to apologize on behalf of people I don't know or to apologize for the entire Salvation Army, but it also seems like someone should. So sorry. I'm sad to hear that you went through all that.
It seems like there's more to this conversation than ought to happen over a blog. If you'd like to email me, I'd be up for continuing the dialog. dforster@use.salvationarmy.org
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