Church Hopscotch

Church Hopscotch, unfortunately, has become the most popular lifestyle among believers today. We will never grow or mature into our calling if we are continually transplanted from one place to another! 

The Bible praises remaining faithful. There may be times you feel like you are getting no where in your church, but you are gaining strong roots by remaining faithful and standing in that place! Psalms 1:3 tells us that the righteous man is “… like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].” And Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us, “[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.” 

The Bible continually emphasizes faithfulness, endurance, steadfastness, and so forth. It is in these principles that we grow and become better equipped for the ministry set before us. In Proverbs 28:20 it states that, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich [at any cost] shall not go unpunished.”
Sadly, so many in the church, young and old, are not Living a life of faithfulness. They are jumping from church to church, like a game of hopscotch hoping to land on “home.” They have come to believe that staying in their current church is stunting their growth or that their season there has come to an end or that the pastor isn’t meeting their needs or this or that. If you believe your pastor to be the one at fault for not helping you grow or not taking the church where it should be, you have opened yourself up to a spirit of Lucifer. A spirit of rebellion that will never be satisfied. Oh, you will be happy at first in this “new season” at this new church that “God lead” you too, but in time you’ll developed the same dissatisfaction that you felt at the last church and the church before that and so forth.
Growing up a pastor’s daughter the last three decades, I’ve seen this behavior over and over again in my father’s church, in other churches of ministry friends, in the church I attended during my years in Bible school and I’ve even seen my friends fall into the game of Church Hopscotch. I’ve heard every reason under the sun as to why people are leaving, and I hate to admit it, but at times it begins to almost become comical at how they all repeat the same reasoning no matter what church it is, small or big, or even what country it is in! At first it’s comical as you think, “they seriously used that reason? Like I haven’t heard that one before….” But then your heart breaks a little, because you know exactly where they will be down the road, and you hope and pray to God for mercy! Because you know the price of such rebellion, and it breaks your heart.
I believe that it is time for those who refuse to be moved to rise up! To speak out against this Lucifer Spirit, that has infiltrated the church at large, and say, enough is enough! We want to remain planted! We want to remain steadfast! And we want to grow up in all things! Are you ready to get out of the game of Church Hopscotch? Are you ready to take a stand and refuse to be moved? Because, where you go to church is a matter of life and death in your life and your family’s life! Which do you choose?
Will you choose to remain steadfast? To remain faithful in your church?
“For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.” – ‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭36‬ AMP
 
[Prov. 13:11; 20:21; 23:4; I Tim. 6:9.] 

3 thoughts on “Church Hopscotch”

  1. Jamie Carter says:
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    The church wrote the rules to the game, I am simply following them. Churches do not change, but people do. I keep on outgrowing my churches, then I must be replanted to continue my growth. The alternative is to be root bound and not grow. My last church sang hymns. I grow best when I get a lot of contemporary music. When I asked the church to change, they told me of another church I could go to. So I obeyed them and left. To put it another way, where God says “go” I follow. If his church helps me on my journey, I let them walk aside me. When a church hinders me, I part company. I remain planted in my faith to God, but I hear the voice of my shepherd and follow him always.

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    • jessicappel says:
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      Sadly, this is the exact mentality I am referring to. And the church didn’t write the rules, rebellion and hearts filled with rebellion did. To believe that Churches do not change is an extremely narrow-minded belief. We are ALL capable of growth and change INCLUDING the church. The Church is a body and it grows as the people who make it up grow. So, I am sorry but I cannot agree with you on the premise that churches do not change. I see many healthy churches who grow and change, and still maintain a firm stance on the Word. You’re entire argument is extremely fleshly. Music tastes dictate where you go to church? And the church can choose to walk beside YOU on YOUR journey? Wow. That’s where you have it wrong, we each are fit together to make up the church. Our pastor is the one who leads each individual congregation, and we follow and walk with the pastor and follow his leadership and example as he follows the Lord (1 Cor. 11:1). God gave us a church and a pastor for our perfecting, not the other way around (Eph. 4:11-16). And Ephesians 4:16 talks about the body being fitly joined together and every joint supplying. We each have a responsibility in the local church, and it is not all about us. Yes, we grow and we have a calling on our lives, but if God is orchestrating our path and the plan for our life, it will not cause hurt to the local church. Leaving churches does so much damage to the church, the pastor, and his family. I wish people would realize what pain, stress, and weight their selfishness over something like music tastes and style does to the pastor and his family. God would NOT tell you to “go” and cause such hurt. People overseas are dying for the chance to attend church, will attend it standing in flood water from tsunamis, and are being BEHEADED for the name of Christ! And we in the west bounce around from church to church because “I’m not growing there.” or we don’t like the style of the church or the music style? all i can say is WOW! The church in the west needs to grow up!

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