There has been a lot of discussion lately about why people are leaving church. Most of the surveys and research reveal four primary reasons:

1. Geographic relocation
2. Theological disunity
3. Cliques within the church
4. Relational conflicts

So with all the moving and shaking going on, what are some things that the church can do to address these four things? Rather than just accept the reality of these 4 reasons for leaving, how can we look at these things as opportunities to rethink and refine our church community?

What if we addressed Geographic Relocation as Missional Opportunities?

Since our community is a resort community it has always had lots of people moving in and out through the different seasons. The last couple years our whole nation has been experiencing big demographic changes. Some people will move to a different area of the city, a suburb or in our situation down-valley because they can afford a house or for many other reasons. Many of these folks will get plugged into a local church in their area and that is great. But, what if those folks wanted to stay connected to the community, but the commute was too long? This could be a great opportunity to pray about starting a new gospel community or microChurch that developed a missional approach to their new location but stayed plugged in with the original church. And if someone moves to another city, but struggles to find a church to plug into, this could be an opportunity to pray about starting a simple Gospel community. There is no greater evangelistic impact than starting new simple Gospel churches.

What if we addressed Theological disunity with Theological clarity and unity?

The leadership of the church needs to make sure they are being diligent to be the theologians of the church and maintain sound doctrine and teach sound doctrine. Unfortunately, today the importance of theology has been minimized in the midst of a culture that has been overtaken by secularism. When there is disagreement, this should be a great opportunity to have healthy discussion and to clarify the essential doctrines of the church and refine the non-essential doctrines. There can be no unity without theological unity.

What if we addressed Cliques with Intentional Engagement beyond our groups?

No matter how hard a church works to be welcoming there will always be those who feel like they cannot break into the community. So, we can and should always be evaluating the relational aspects of our church culture to knock down barriers that keep people from plugging in. We need to regularly teach and model a practice of always looking outside our comfortable relationships to development other relationships.

What if we addressed Relational Conflicts with Gospel-Centered resolutions?

There will always be some relational situations that just for some reason or another were not able to be resolved. At best for these, hopefully people can agree to disagree. But, most unresolved relationships are the result of not being willing to put on a Gospel lens when dealing with the conflict. The Gospel transforms us to learn to live unoffendable, quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19) and “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:3) The main way we learn to put on a Gospel lens is through discipleship where we learn to be like Jesus and minister with Jesus.