The number one reason that people leave their church is they have no real relationships. People come into a congregation; they feel accepted and welcomed so they join. They may be respected and well liked, but because discipleship never gets beyond a Sunday morning handshake, they begin to feel isolated. Church becomes a routine instead of a hunger. People then go to church out of a feeling of obligation to God, not because we have a true love for God’s people.
When we get to this point, we are only one disappointment away from giving up. We all need something more than this routine. The reason why we long for something more is because we were designed for something more. God did not create any ‘Lone Christians’. God calls us to lift each other up.
There should not be a single person in the church that does not have at least one friend they meet with in an unstructured environment outside of church.
It's a sad reality that what he talks about is true of many churches. Even having gone to church for a long time, I realise there are probably many things I think or believe about church that are not true which are a result of seeing and hearing about problems that happen in church.
Instead of letting those misconceptions lead me to adding to the problems, it's more important to seek God to replace those misconceptions with His truths so that He can use me to address and lessen the problems.
How different the church would look if we were intentional about investing time in real relationships and discipleship.
