There are all kinds of reasons a believer might disconnect from the body of Christ. Some of these include offenses (real and imagined), pride (churches have hypocrites), life events in which they blame God, and false beliefs (“just me and Jesus”). All of these issues, if not dealt with properly and spiritually, will lead to strongholds in the mind of the believer, and likely precipitate a breakaway from the church community. Strongholds must be addressed spiritually through prayer, love and truth.
“Burned” Christians
Sometimes, dropout believers get that way because they experienced a real or perceived hurt associated with a church, pastor or person. Rather than forgiving and moving on, they hold anger and resentment, and a spirit of bitterness and unforgiveness sets in. Perhaps jealousy and envy of another person, group or church also enter the picture.
In any event, they drop out and become isolated from the body of Christ—the local church. Simply maintaining casual fellowship with some believers does not constitute integration with the body and submission to it.
Hunters Tip No. 2
Consider two or three people in your sphere of influence who are dropout believers. Begin to pray and ask God to reveal to you the “why” behind the dropout. You may discern it through prayer, a casual conversation or even their behavior. Then you can begin to pray for the root issue to be dealt with.
For more depth on this read, Hunters of the Harvest Chapter 4. To order the book go to HuntersOfTheHarvest.org and click “Order.”
To sign up for the free email series Arrows of Truth: Hunters Tips™ newsletters click here.
Read more:
- What Is a ‘Dropout Believer’? Arrows of Truth No. 1
- Why Not Just Invite the Dropout Believer to Church? Arrows of Truth No. 3
Louis Posthauer is the executive director of Hunters of the Harvest™ Ministry. He has been actively involved in the local church for more than 37 years and currently serves as a lay leader and teacher at Living Word Church of the Nazarene in Houston. For more information, visit HuntersOfTheHarvest.org.