There are times when circumstances dictate that we move—that we move from one town to another, one province or state to another, or even one country or continent to another. There are other times when it is desire more than circumstance that causes us to uproot ourselves from one location and re-root ourselves in another.
It has long concerned me how many people move to a new house without giving substantial attention to a new church. They carry out an extensive job search and move only after signing on with a new company. They put great effort into choosing a town and selecting a house within it. They may visit nearby schools to ensure their children will continue to receive a good education. But they simply assume they’ll be able to find a church.
I often find myself thinking about the insight I learned from a recent book: That one of the most dangerous things a Christian can do is move. Why is it so dangerous? Because a move necessarily uproots that person or their family from their local church. And while they may intend to find a new church in their new location, they often do not. Sometimes they simply cannot find a good one and other times they break the habit of attending and never quite recover it. The key insight is that many people are “accidental deconstructionists” who abandon the faith through sloppiness or poor planning rather than conviction or malice.
I have seen this play out many times, often with former members of our church. While they were with us they appeared to be thriving and growing, joyfully attending services and faithfully serving other people. Then they announced they were moving for work or school or perhaps just for a change of scenery. We did our best to say farewell to them, pray for them, and bless them on their way.
Sometimes in our first follow-ups after the move we learned they were struggling to find a new church and in our later follow-ups we learned they had not found one at all. Soon they would stop replying to us altogether, perhaps in shame that they had now abandoned the local church and maybe even the Christian faith.
In other cases, they did not abandon the faith or even waver in it but had been forced to settle into churches that failed to properly honor the gospel or that worship in ways they disagreed with—churches that were from an entirely different tradition. While they were grateful to be able to gather with believers, they struggled with a church that denied much of what they held dear and sometimes even lamented having moved altogether.
Of course, there are circumstances in which a move is necessary—perhaps when you are in the military and are reassigned or if you are in a country that is not your own and the terms of your visa change. There are times we are forced to move involuntarily by life circumstances or divine providence. Yet far more often than not, I have seen people move for other reasons.
Might it be better to stay put and take a pay cut than to move and take a “church cut?” Wouldn’t it be better to be underemployed in a sound church than prosperous in a bad one?
And so I have often wondered: Might it be better to stay put and take a pay cut than to move and take a “church cut?” Wouldn’t it be better to be underemployed in a sound church than prosperous in a bad one? Wouldn’t it be better to have your kids in a slightly worse school system but in a dramatically better church? Wouldn’t it be better to forgo a bit of property size in order to have a faith that can grow and remain secure?
And if you do choose to move, let me plead with you to put more attention into your church than your job, neighborhood, home, or school. Let me plead with you to ensure—to be absolutely certain—that wherever you go, you and your family will be able to be members of a church that honors the Word, preaches truth, and faithfully worships the King. For nothing less than spiritual life and death are at stake.
