"I am so glad that things didn't tank at the GA. If they had, I would be looking for a new church right now."
"Had the GA voted to change both the ordination standards and changed the definition of marriage to 'two people' instead of between a 'man and a woman', that would have been the last straw for our church. We would have left the denomination."
I thank God that we are not in a crisis moment with the denomination. I thank God that this no-anxious time provides us the opportunity to consider what we understand about a sovereign God and church membership both as an individual and as a church.
The first thing that we can assert is that God is sovereign. God is omniscient. God is omnipotent. There is nothing happening today that is "shocking" God and catching him by surprise.
Not only that, but our God who is sovereign, omniscient, and omnipotent placed us in our particular churches and in our particular denomination for a reason. This is not by accident nor merely our own choosing.
In a consumeristic and individualistic society like ours, it may seem and feel like it was purely our decision to join a church or denomination, and if we're not happy with either our church or denomination, it is our choice to leave. But if we truly believe that God is sovereign, then it really is not up to us to choose. It is not our choice to make. God placed us in our church and in our denomination much like how we were placed in our families.
Sure, like all families, we've got our issues and dysfunctions. However, they in and of themselves do not give us enough reason to leave. Unless God tells us to leave, it is not up to us to choose to stay or leave.
Until God makes it crystal clear that it is time to leave, what we are all called to do is to make where we are better. We ought to make our church a better church and our denomination a stronger denomination that unabashedly proclaims and demonstrates the glory of Jesus Christ.
Secondly, it seems odd to me that people are so readily thinking about leaving when most of the biblical examples of errors in the life of the church points to those who are orthodox correcting and disciplining those who are in error. And sometimes that discipline and correction requires for those who are in the church to exercise discipline by expelling those who are in error. However, I have a hard time finding examples in the Bible of people who leave when things don't go their way or when things aren't to their liking.
Does that mean then there are never any good and Godly reasons to leave a church or denomination?
Of course not. There are times when it is necessary to do so.
However, what I am challenging and arguing against is the proclivity of so many who seem to have leaving as a default mode whenever things don't go "our" way. Leaving ought to be one of the last resort options.
Our main role is to continue to maintain orthodoxy and orthopraxy right where God has us. If we are to leave our churches or denomination, I believe God would make that clear.
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