Why do we give up?

I’ve been in the ministry for almost 20 yrs. now, and every once in a while I get a little frustrated.  Not discouraged, but frustrated.  Why?  Because some of the people who come along to our church simply give up.  Now, please don’t misunderstand me, our church has grown by leaps and bounds and many pastors would love to switch places with me.  However, from time to time I have people bail out on our church.  It makes me wonder why?  Most of them never give a reason…so here’s my thoughts on the matter:

1.  Conviction.  If you stay at a Bible believing (preaching) church for any length of time, the Holy Spirit will work on you.  For some folks this is welcomed, for others they’d just-as-soon not have to deal with God’s convicting power.  So, they run.

2.  Resposibility.  I’ve found that it’s easy to say we want to work (job) in the church, so long as it don’t interfere with all our other recreational activities.  I can’t tell you how many people who’ve come our way…and for one reason or the other they’ve let go of their responsibilities because it was no longer fun or useful to them.  I’m glad Jesus didn’t abandon His responsibilities because the “going-got-tough”, aren’t you?

3.  Conflict.  Most adults have no clue how to resolve conflict.  They’s rather run off to another church or quit, rather than resolve the issue.  Why is it we discipline our children for not playing well together but our relationships are no better?  Wonder where they get it?

My conclusion…if you’re a quitter, grow up!  Find a church you can invest in and allow God to use you there.  Don’t let your presence be a liability…but make sure you become apart of the team.  God wants you to be fruitful, but in order to be fruitful you have to be committed and consistent.

Have a great day!!!

 Pastor Neal