Jeff Noble recently posted his opinions on another post regarding the answer to knowing when it is time to leave your church. There is a chance that my posting is going to come off sounding adversarial and I would like to say, for the record, that it is certainly not my intention…

While I agree with most of what Jeff has to say about this topic, I have to ask this question… Is it not possible for a person to evaluate “whether they or their children are growing spiritually and in their understanding of and embrace of a life mission and ministry” in a “pew-centered” and/or “classroom-oriented” setting? I know an awful lot of regular church attenders (ones that attend a “pew-centered” and “classroom-oriented” church) that are aware that “there are genuine and authentic (though certainly not perfect) gatherings of Christ followers”… these individuals are constantly evaluating their church and they often have issues with things, but the implication that these people “haven’t paused long enough to consider the dearth of a deep love of God and others in their own spiritual life” is preposterous and seems to be colored with more than just a small amount of pride… maybe I’m wrong.

Where is the mention of asking God if it is time to leave the church? I know more than a handful (some in my own church… many that are not) of people that would have left their church a very long time ago for different reasons, but that feel like God has left them there for a specific purpose… discovering that purpose is often difficult, but they feel that there is a reason that they are supposed to stay. In a culture and time in which it is becoming easier and easier to move on when you discover that you don’t love your spouse… or your job… or your house… or your church, I tend to err on the side of being absolutely sure that God’s desire is to move on… I recently experienced this as another church that I had initially never contacted asked me to come in view of a call… much “better job” on paper, but God was not in this move.

Am I wrong here? I do want to hear from anyone on this…