Common reasons why people leave church

Church attendance is falling in many of the mainline Christian denominations today. This is unfortunate, because as society becomes increasingly secularized, the ethical and moral climate of cultures decline. Society needs frequent reminders that there are absolute standards of right and wrong, and that a Supreme Being monitors the deeds of individuals and nations. Ultimately, the good will be rewarded and the wicked punished.

People stop attending church for a variety of reasons. Among the most common are:

* I'm too busy.

 Really?  During the week, the Almighty gives you 168 hours of life, food to eat, a roof over your head and numerous moments of peace and pleasure with friends and family. Can you begrudge Him an hour or two on Sunday in return? Does that not seem like the ultimate in ingratitude?

* I don't believe in God.

This can be a convenient excuse  If everyone took time to observe and reflect on the beauty of the world around them: the glory of a sunrise, the cycle of seasons, the perfection of a newborn, the unerring rhythm with which the universe and everything in it operates, he or she would realize that all creation bespeaks the hand of an all-wise and all-loving Creator.

* There are too many sinners and hypocrites at church.

Agreed. Churches are full of sinners and hypocrites. What better place could they be? Aren't we all sinners? Most of us are also hypocrites in some manner or other. Jesus said: "I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance."  Luke 5:32

* I don't need church. I can pray at home.

Everyone should pray at home, but we were meant to worship in community. Consider the prayer Jesus taught. He instructed us to address God as a group: "Our Father...", and again, "Give us this day our daily bread...", and "forgive us our trespasses". Individual prayer is good, but group prayer is more powerful. " For where two or three are gathered  in my name, I am there among them. " Matthew 18:20

* God doesn't care about us. Look at all the evil in the world.

There is much evil in the world but when the causes are examined closely, they are mainly rooted in man's inhumanity to man. God gifted humans with free will. When that will is used for evil, it is certainly not God's fault.

Also, the earth and everything in it was created perfectly. With the fall of our first parents, sickness and death became part of our destiny.

The planet, too, shared in humanity's loss of perfection. Some of the animals became ferocious, crops no longer grew without a farmer's effort, and floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters came into being.

God however, did not leave his beloved children without a means of help and a guide to salvation. Jesus established the Christian Church to guide us through the chaos of earthly life and enable us to find our way back to God and our eternal home. Those who make excuses, leave the church, and try to find the way on their own, do so at their peril.