When is it okay to leave your local church?

What are the biblical parameters for leaving a church? Can a believer leave whenever he feels spiritually uncomfortable or when he disagrees with a major decision? What does one do if he gets a job in another state and the elders insist that he stay? Although the Bible is clear on the necessity of local church membership, it does not directly address the parameters of how and when one is righteous when choosing to switch attendance to another local church. This does not assume that the Bible is inadequate to address the issue, because it is completely sufficient to address everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Bible is sufficient to address the issue, but a thorough study of what the Bible says on the topic is necessary for one to come to a resilient conviction on the matter. This article will first examine the biblical reasons for why one should stay at their local church. Next, it will critically respond to common reasons offered for leaving a local church. Thirdly, it will attempt to establish some biblical parameters for leaving a church.

The Context of the New Testament Church

The reason it is difficult to establish parameters for leaving a local church is that the New Testament church was in a completely different context than the 21st century church in America. Although there are times when Scripture records people leaving their local church—they are either obviously positive (apostolic evangelism) or clearly negative (apostasy). The modern phenomenon of “church-shopping” was not an issue when the scriptures were written. 

The early church existed in a unique period. When the New Testament was written there was only one church per city. Unlike today, one could not even go to a separate denomination. One was either part of the church or not. Although there were distinct house-churches in the various cities (Acts 20:20; Rom. 16:5), no one is ever recorded leaving one for another within the same city. Moreover, the New Testament epistles were written to the church as a whole in the city, not to distinct house-churches (Acts 20:20; Eph 1:1). It appears that Paul recognized that each local church group was in its own right, a church of God, but no individual church could be isolated from the rest. 

The church was also so new that the problems that eventually lead to denominational splits had not yet developed. The fact that the apostles were still alive during its establishment helped quell inter-relational and doctrinal disputes that would lead a person to leave a church (Phil 4:2; 2 Tim 1:13-14). The freshness of the churches protected their purity. A first century Christian would not leave the church over such minor excuses that pose as easy justification today. Church membership was not guided by cultural preferences and tradition, but firm confidence in the truthfulness of apostolic preaching—so much so, that Christians were willing to lay down their lives for it. Unlike today, church membership in the early church was actually a life and death issue. 
 

Biblical Priorities Regarding Church Membership

The context of the New Testament church makes it obvious why there is no specific regulations established for when and how, or even why one can leave their local church. Although the Bible does not directly address these issues, it does lay down applicable principles.

The priority of membership

Every believer is expected to be a part of a local church body. The frequent commands of mutual admonition and encouragement cannot be accomplished in isolation (1 Thess 4:18, 5:11; Rom 1:12). Neither can overseers be faithful to their task if believers do not meet together and submit under their authority (Acts 20:28; 1 Thess 5:12-13). Members need to continue to meet together in order to maintain fellowship and to minister to one another (Heb. 10:25). This was a pattern established by the church in Acts, in that week after week the believers came together for fellowship (Acts 20:7). Christ’s high priestly prayer demonstrates that the church’s ability to reach the lost will relate directly to its ability to display the loving unity that exists within the Trinity (John 17:21, 23). Moreover, the local church is the institution God purposed to guard the truth (1 Tim 3:15). If a believer does not prioritize church membership, then they are also failing to prioritize these biblical principles.

The Priority of Unity

The New Testament church never faced the dilemma of “church-shoppers” for multiple reasons, but one of the most significant is that the apostles did not give room for division over preferential issues. The apostles made it very clear that unity within the church was vital.  Divisive members were not to be tolerated (Rom 16:17-18; Titus 3:10). Therefore, the priority of each individual member of a church was to preserve unity within the local church (Eph 4:2, 3). According to his high priestly prayer, Christ expected the church to remain unified (John 17:21). Paul also admonished the Corinthians for allowing divisions to develop (1 Cor. 1:10, 13). Therefore, when these divisions did develop within the local church, Paul exhorted believers to humble themselves just as Christ humbled himself (Phil 2). Unity should be preserved through humility. Therefore, when disagreements and difficulties arise, leaving a local church should be a last resort. Even if theological and relational unity seems impossible to attain, the Christian should persevere until it is truly unattainable. Paul does not offer leaving a church as an option. One could argue that even if church elders are failing to be responsible in their duties, believers should still submit to them. However, they should also not fail to exhort those weak elders unto greater faithfulness (1 Peter 5:5-6). It is noteworthy that the only time believers are commanded to separate themselves from other believers is when people steadfastly hold to doctrines which constitute a denial of the Christian faith (2 John 10). It is assumed therefore, that believers are expected to maintain unity rather than to seek separation.

The Priority of Edification

Relational and doctrinal unity is prioritized and expected because of the very nature of the church. Spiritually speaking—the church is unified. Although the body of Christ exists in many members, those members are all “one body” (1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12-26). Though the members of the body of Christ may act disunited, the church is still spiritually united in the person of Christ (Eph. 4:4-6). In light of this unity, the priority of each church member is to seek the edification of the rest of its members. This demands that all the members should do whatever they can to persevere through difficulty, so that this goal will be accomplished. But as each part of the body does its share, edification, and subsequently unity, will be accomplished (Eph 4:11-16). Because edification is the priority of the church and that this is accomplished through its unity, believers are expected to maintain unity rather than to seek separation.

Believers are clearly expected to be bound to their local church, but to what extent? Because the church prioritizes membership, unity, and mutual edification, does that mean that once a person joins a local church that it is sinful to leave it? Is a believer eternally bound to their local congregation? To answer this question a distinction needs to be made between the local and universal church. The universal church consists of all genuine believers who have placed their faith in Christ for salvation. The local church consists of all such believers who submit themselves under a common leadership and who regularly gather for worship and fellowship. Scripture uses the word “church” to refer to both aspects.

  In light of this, it is theologically impossible for a believer to ever be separated from the universal church. Once one is baptized into Christ, he becomes eternally united with the rest of the body of Christ since all are “in him” (1 Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:26-27). However, membership to a local church is temporal because membership is not so much spiritually based, but relationally based. For instance, one can be a member of a local church and not be part of the universal church (2 Cor. 13:5; Heb. 6:1-8). This is because not all who attend a local church are necessarily saved. Likewise, if a person leaves a local church, this does not mean that he is also leaving the universal church. Universal church membership is not based upon local church membership. However, because of the expectation of local church membership, a believer who leaves one congregation should seek to join another as soon as possible. Because the universal church exists all over the world, being displayed in various different local churches, leaving one local church does not equate leaving the whole universal church. Therefore, local church leadership should not demand or expect an eternal commitment to the church that they oversee.  

To counter this, one might point to 1 John 2:19 where the apostle declares, “they went out from us because they are not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out so that it would be shown that they are not all really of us.” Without argument, the point that John is making is that the professing believers’ failure to persevere with the local body indicates that they were never part of the universal body. As Glen W. Barker comments, 
“The case at hand is unique; apparently the going out was neither expulsion nor excommunication, but the voluntary departure of those involved. Yet, their departure is taken as absolutely serious. It shows that they were never truly one with the community. If they had been true disciples, their non-perseverance with the community would never have occurred.” (Glenn W. Barker, I, II, and III John, EBC (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 1986), 324.)

The departure of these members proved the invalidity of their faith. However, it would not be fair to apply this text to all persons who leave their local church. Examination of the surrounding context of this verse demonstrates that John was referring to false teachers who were denying fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. He was not making a universal prohibition against leaving a local church but showing that the departure of these false teachers proved their unbelief. They left because the church persevered against their false teaching. They left because they were false teachers. Leaving did not make them false teachers. It would be an abuse of the Scripture to apply this text to any person who was not leaving under the same context of false teaching.

Reasons to Leave a Local Church 

The priority of scripture is for believers to remain in their local church and to persevere through difficulties. However, in light of the principles mentioned above, how does one know when he should stay or when he should go?

Doctrinal Differences

The most accepted reason for departure from a local church is differences in doctrine. A need for separation may arise when the doctrinal positions or practices of a local church deviate from the clear teaching of scripture. 2 John 10-11, which forbids the receiving of false teachers, makes perhaps the strongest statement in the entire New Testament. However, three things need to be noted about this text. (1) The teacher is teaching a serious heresy about the person of Christ, which would prevent one from actually attaining saving faith. (2) This is referring to a false teacher not to all individuals who hold false beliefs, because it speaks of someone who comes to you and “does not bring this doctrine”. (3) The greeting John has in mind refers to an official church greeting which would give an appearance of endorsement to the false teaching. In light of these three points, little ground is given to justify separation from a local body. However, the text does establish an important principle. Christians would be required on doctrinal grounds to depart from any church that when the doctrinal error is so serious and pervasive that the church has become a false church, demonstrating that it is no longer part of the body of Christ. This was the justification of the reformers who departed from the Roman Catholic Church because of its soteriological and ecclesiological errors. 

Apart from when a church propagates heresy, no biblical ground for leaving a church is granted. However, this does not demand that a member never has freedom to leave a local church. It simply means that leaving a local church cannot be explicitly justified by Scripture. That being the case, believers still have freedom in Christ to follow their conscience. They are no longer bound by the Old Testament law, but rather they are bound by the law of Christ (Rom 7:4-6; Gal. 5:1). The law of Christ refers to the New Testament Scriptures (1 Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2). Believers are bound to obey all that is commanded in the New Testament and beyond that they have freedom to follow their conscience. Therefore, if one can leave a church without violating any biblical principles then they have all the freedom in the world to do so. Such situations might be as follows.

Disqualified Leadership

Sometimes believers may be compelled to leave on the grounds of the church having unbiblical leadership. If an elder or pastor has morally disqualified themselves from their ministry, then they are commanded to step down (1 Tim 5:20). If the church fails to follow through by disciplining the elder, then they are putting the church at risk. At this point the whole of the leadership would be under question. There might be biblical grounds to leave at this point, but departure is not necessary.

Differences in a Philosophy of Ministry

Church leadership might gravitate overtime to a man-centered approach to ministry such as a business model, seeker-sensitive, or culturally engaged mode of ministry. As the priorities of a church shift, a believer may come to the conclusion that to remain underneath poor teaching or faulty vision is going to cause more harm than good. If the Christian believes he has done all that he can to graciously plead with the leadership to shift back to a more biblical philosophy of ministry, then leaving might be acceptable.

Differences in Preferences

A believer may join a church and then later after an examination of Scripture, recognize that he does not agree with the model of the church’s government. In another case, the church might expect all its members to educate their children according to one model of education. A member that disagrees with such man-made ordinances might find it healthier for the church and their family to worship with another body that is more likeminded in its preferences. 

Other Reasons to Leave

Sometimes God providentially opens and closes doors to things such as ministry opportunities, work, or military service. Many events and circumstances come into people’s lives, which force them to uproot themselves from their local church. Since the church is a universal entity, believers are not bound to stay at their local church at all costs. Instead, they can find another body of believers or establish a new one wherever the Lord might take them. 

The fact that believers have freedom to leave their local church is seen in the movement of Christians within the New Testament. First, Paul certainly did not stay at the same church, but he frequently moved never residing in a city for more than a few years. Barnabas as well ministered to multiple churches. Even those who were not especially set apart for apostolic ministry left their local churches. Timothy at the least ministered in Ephesus, Thessalonica. Philippi, Corinth.  Priscilla and Aquilla had a house in Rome, but that couple had been driven out of Rome due to the edict of Claudius. Then they established a church in Ephesus in their house (1 Cor. 16:19). In 2 Tim 4:19 they are back in Ephesus 8-10 years after the writing of the book of Romans. They moved frequently with no indication of officially being sent by elders. A few reasons can be offered as to why they moved: (1) They were a business couple; they might have been traveling with their trade. (2) After being expelled by the edict of Claudius they may have just come back to Rome because it was a city in which they once lived. (3) They also might have gotten the missionary bug from Paul and so went to different cities on behalf of the gospel. Scripture does not specify exactly why they moved to different churches. But although they went to different churches Paul only speaks of them with commendation.

How to Leave a Local Church

If a believer becomes convinced that it is best for the church, himself, and his family to leave his local congregation then he needs to do all he can to leave graciously and humbly so that no consequent harm will come to the church. 
The departing church member needs to make sure that there are no unresolved issues with any relationships in the church. If there are any broken relationships, they need to be mended (Eph. 4:1-3). A failure to address any sin issues or to an unwillingness to forgive another member, this is only grounds to remain in a church. Believers are expected to confront other believers who have sinned against them (Matt 18:15-20). On the other side, an unwillingness to forgive sin is an indication of false faith (Matt 18:21-35). Whenever a member leaves a church, it should be in peace. This does not mean that every member in the church needs to be happy about the departure or even agree with the decision. However, it does mean that the member has dealt with all sin as far as he is able.

A problem occurs when other believers are unwilling to repent. Is the believer required to stay if he has done all he can to reconcile the relationship? Even though he may not be able to fully reconcile the relationship, his attitude toward the sinning brother should never be one of anger, bitterness, resentment, or any kind of ill will.  He should also treat them very kindly and graciously (Romans 12:17 21).  Believers are commanded to love everyone (Luke 6:27-35), so they must desire their best, which means they will do everything they can to bring them to repentance and that they will always be ready to reconcile if the opportunity arises (Mark 11:25; Luke 23:34; Matt. 6:12-15).  

The departing believer should also have a conference with the elders of the church before he leaves. God established the elders as those who were responsible for the oversight of the believer (Heb 13:17). Unless the believer notifies the elders of their departure, then they are preventing them from fulfilling their God-ordained task. Moreover, this assures that the believer will not be leaving the church for unbiblical reasons. The elders will be able to determine if any steps need to be made on behalf of the church.

In conclusion, there is only one biblical reason a believer should leave his local church, and that is that the church he is a member of is no longer upholding Christian teachings that are central to the faith. In all other cases unity should be pursued, and the believer should do all he can to remain. Although this is the only reason supported by Scripture to leave a church, this does not mean that a believer is required to stay. There are no commands demanding a believer to remain at his local church. All Christians have complete freedom in Christ to choose where and with whom they desire to worship. However, leaving a church should be done soberly and only after much prayer and counsel is sought.