The Religious Spirit of Church Hopping

There is a routine in our region regarding church hopping.  It is such a familiar spirit that people have a circuit of churches they travel to and repeat it often.  Probably the most common occurrence, as the root of this issue, is religious Christians will attend a church for a while until the pastor of the church they are attending discusses a sin or even a topic that is dear to that religious person’s heart and offense arises.  Due to the religious heart, that person is unwilling to conform to the Word of God or God’s standard but chooses instead to leave to find another church.  The first issue with this situation is the person getting offended, especially when the Word of God is preached.  Psalm 119:165 states, “Great peace have they which love thy law (the Word of God), and nothing shall offend them”.  This type of behavior is not honored by God.  He looks for faithful people to serve within the local church where He plants them as He desires (1 Corinthians 12:18).  When a Christian is faithful and planted within the local church that God has called that person to, they can flourish in the things of God (Psalm 92:13).  The Bible also describes older saints producing fruit for God in their old age when they are planted within the local church (Psalm 92:14).  Every Christian that plants themselves in the things of God and especially the local church should be planted like a tree to receive the water of the Word to produce fruit of their relationship with God (Psalm 1:3).  This only comes through being faithful to the kingdom of God, the Word of God, and the local church God has assigned each Christian to.  Even as Jesus preached the Word of God He faced the people allowing offense to arise in their hearts and quit following Him (John 6:59-61, 66).  As Jesus spoke the truth some believers began to talk about Jesus and His message.  This should let pastors know that even when they preach the Word of God correctly there will still be selfish Christians who would rather have their sin than have Jesus Christ as their Savior (1 John 3:4).  This should also let believers know that when offense arises it should be cast down within their thoughts and seek the Word of God to change that area of life to be more accurate in walking with God.  Many people even after leaving a church unbiblically for selfish reasons will go to the pastor of the new church they are attending and brag on themselves and how spiritual they are but these are unfaithful people (Proverbs 20:6).  Another root for this issue within the local church is the whispers of demons in the ears of some of the people to get them to become unfaithful to where God has called them to be planted.  This is why it is important to test the spirits that are speaking to each believer to see if they are speaking from God or as a spiritual enemy (1 John 4:1).  No matter the root of the issue, Christians are to serve at the local church by being planted and rooted where God says to be planted.  All servants of God are required to be faithful and trustworthy (1 Corinthians 4:2).  After all, the goal for every Christian is to hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant” as they reach Heaven (Matthew 25:21, 23).  May all Christians be determined to know where God has called them to be planted and be faithful in serving Him there.