At what point do you leave a church? This is a question that many pastors face. They take up a call at a new church, have a nice honeymoon period, and then they settle in for the grind. For some, they receive significant criticism for one reason or another. They then find themselves lying awake at night wondering whether they should resign and walk away—look for another call—or whether they should stay and fight. I have heard a number of colleagues over the years ponder this very question. Some of the best advice I heard came from a seasoned colleague.
My colleague offered the following observations. If you find yourself under significant criticism with people calling for your resignation, ask why they are doing this. Are they calling for your ouster because of your performance, your familial conduct, the lack of results, or similar reasons? If so, then the Christ-like thing to do is to withdraw peaceably. Resign and look for another call. On the other hand, are people calling for your removal because you are preaching the gospel? Keep in mind, I’m not talking about receiving criticism for preaching about hobby-horses or peripheral matters but rather the gospel of Christ. Are you preaching the free grace of Christ and meeting with resistance? In this case, you stay and fight and do so until no one is left. What’s the difference between these two scenarios?
In the former, you are the issue—there is something about your personality, work ethic, or family behavior that people, rightly or wrongly, find objectionable. You never want to be the reason for a church split or the reason why a church must close its doors. For the sake of the church and Christ’s gospel, you pursue the way of the cross and walk away. Even if you’re being wronged, this is likely the Christ-like thing to do (cf. 1 Cor. 6:7). On the other hand, if the opposition is to the gospel, then the Christ-like thing to do is to stand and fight, even if it means closing the church. If you close the doors on the church due to your faithfulness in preaching the gospel, then the church was not founded upon the gospel of Christ but rather the desires of men and what their itching ears wanted to hear (2 Tim. 4:3).
One of the biggest pitfalls in all of this, however, is misinterpreting the criticism you receive—we are quick, I suspect, in identifying our cause with the gospel and then mistakenly fighting when we should step down. How often have we identified our ideas or causes with the gospel? When we as mere mortals, apart from divine apostolic warrant, make such claims it is difficult, if not downright impossible, to oppose them. To avoid making this mistake, seek godly counsel to determine the specific nature of the controversy. If you are the source of the problem, then lay your life down for the sheep and walk away. If the gospel is the source of the problem—stand and fight.
