Hebrews 10:25 - Quietly Quitting Church?

Hi all and blessings to you. I'm not even sure if there are still those of us on here who would have frequented CF a good 20 something years but here I am, lol.

Anyway hope you all are well.

I will elaborate a little more in the coming days but I wanted to get a feel for those who are still on here and whether anyone else feels the same as my OP title.

Ever since I joined Christian Forums back in 2003, I went from being a babe in Christ to where I am now (toddler/teen in Christ I don't know haha). The growth I had as a believer had been mainly from CF, if I am perfectly honest, from posters still here to those who have gone to be with the Lord. The debates here, the studying here, the bank of resources for me to "be a Berean" with my Bible - I've gained from CF for like 70-80% of my walk.

Offline, I have struggled to be in a fellowship where I can say that I truly felt as though I belong. Bible study would be somewhat, one-sided ("chalk & talk") and foundational and/or I'd basically have moments where I'm in fellowship and yet so profoundly alone in a physical building. I have one sister in Christ friend who retired and moved to the Scottish border but outside of her, have no friends who I'd say touch base with or hang out with who are believers. I do seem to have more Muslim close friends than I do Christian, and it was those friends who have been there for me through thick and thin.

With the buzz word used in the post-covid workplace where employees are "quietly quitting", i.e. they turn up at work, go through the motions doing the barest minimum and then leaving, I've been personally asking myself this in my current fellowship. Am I quiet quitting? I turn up on a Sunday, witness those around me explaining out loud how they're reacting to the move of the Holy Spirit. I'd then spend the rest of Sunday wondering what is wrong with me that for the last 6 years, I feel nothing on many occasions. I used to hang around after the service to try to talk to people but had too many times when myself and my household would be stood in the coffee room with there being a degree of superficial chat to where my ds would continually prod me to finish my tea so that we could leave.

I'm currently looking within myself (as well as posting this thread) as church hopping produces the same result within me. I have held onto Hebrews 10:25 to try to motivate myself to lead by example (to my kids) to regularly attend church and my objective was to attempt to show my now adult eldest and youngest teen the importance of physically being around other believers. This current self reflection has had my dreams return and I am working with the Holy Spirit to get to the root of how I've been feeling.

So my question is this - as we see what is happening around us, would you guys say that now, more than any other time, is of tantatmount importance to be within a physical community of believers? To push past the feeling of emptiness that I have?

Hebrews 10:25 has been what I've been holding onto and what I've been discussing with the kids. I haven't been given the 'green light' yet by the Holy Spirit to explore another fellowship due to me currently looking within myself first (no point moving elsewhere when perhaps my introverted self will just end up feeling the same way elsewhere). I'm also extremely cautious of stepping away from not bothering to physically attend church as I do not think this is the best thing for us as a household and I've had too many dreams of a final revival which will come to the UK/globally. The phrase "the fire ember will die out" comes to mind for me when I entertain not going to church every Sunday.

Second question - For those who have had seasons like this, how did you get around this?

Sorry for the very long post, any thoughts, though would be appreciated xxx

mourningdove~ said:

Hi there! I'm an old timer, too!

(I haven't been here steadily. Thru the years, I've come and gone.)


Yes, we believers have always needed each other ... but I believe, too, that we are at a time in history where it is very important that believers be physically connected with one another. (Not just connected online.)

Our world is spinning out of control. The former 'norm' (pre-pandemic) is not going to return. As we await the return of the Lord, things are not going to get better. They are going to continue to get worse; the Bible tells us so. We, as Christians, are going to need each other to help each other stand firm in the faith and withstand the trials up ahead. God can protect the 'loner' Christian ... God can do anything ... but it will be so much better for the believer who is in fellowship with other believers, where they can each be a support and encouragement to one another. I believe it will be very difficult for the 'loner' Christian to endure the days to come.

And then there is the issue of 'fruitfulness'. I believe we are much more productive and fruitful for the Lord when we are physically connected in fellowship with like-minded believers.


I relate to the struggle. As many churches here in the U.S. have gone lukewarm, in recent years it's been hard for me to make that genuine. lasting, offline church connection.

I thought I had found a permanent church home, but recently decided to leave it. There were many reasons for my leaving, but overwhelmingly there was just too much hypocrisy (sin) in the church for me to continue to ignore it. I admit there can sometimes be hypocrisy in my own life that needs to be dealt with, but when the sin and hypocrisy is seen deeply entrenched within the leadership ranks? I can only handle so much before my heart tells me to move on.

Over the years, I've seen quite a few posters on CF who've shared their difficulty in finding a home church. Their desire appeared sincere, as did their disappointment when they'd searched and searched, only to again find that they could not make that connection.

Just last week I stumbled across this video (below). I don't know this person, or who she is, but I listened because of the subject of the video. If you take a listen, she attributes the problem we're discussing to 'a lack of repentance' (sin). and 'a lack of integrity' (i.e., hypocrisy) that we currently see in many churches. I tend to agree with her assessment.

Click to expand...

Bless you sis and it's so lovely to see a familiar face as well. I pray you are well

Thank you so much for this wisdom! You have confirmed what I have been feeling in my heart. I still don't feel a strong urge to completely leave this fellowship and not attend any church. But interestingly not long after I posted this OP, I came across the same video on my phone that you posted here! It seems to have brought a few answers to explain how I've been feeling.

One of the main reasons for my discomfort has been some regular outbursts from one of the elders after each service. Yet I really don't think I'll find another place to fellowship in where I live.

I'm still holding onto being in a position where we as believers all work together to bring in the final harvest of souls and so will prayerfully wait and see

Daniel Carlton said:

I would say if Hebrews 10:25 is still applicable to believers today, then so is the preceding verse “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” so if a church is not producing verse 24, they got no right to demand you produce verse 25.

Click to expand...

This is very true, Daniel and thank you for this.

I have prayerfully been mulling over what you said, as well and had a very long chat with my sister in Christ who retired to the north of England about this very topic as well. I guess currently there are many things that the Lord is aware of that perhaps we're not in relation to the outbursts by one of the elders. I've been praying for our leaders at my church but have missed both last Sunday and today in terms of fellowship.

There are so few churches for us as a family to go to where I live - most churches are dying (hence that video that mourningdove shared is so accurate adn close to home for me). So I'm currently just taking a break from going and will only formally move when I'm 100% sure that this will be the best for all of us.

mourningdove~ said:

I read these articles today on Breitbart.
Are you seeing signs of revival happening there in the UK?

Report: Gen Z Driving UK Christian Revival as Bible Sales, Church Attendance Soar​

Gen Z Driving UK Christian Revival as Bible Sales, Church Attendance Soar

Bible sales have doubled and the number of young Britons attending church services has quadrupled in six years, according to fresh data.

www.breitbart.com

Christian Revival: Belief in God Triples Among 18-24 Year Old Britons​

Christian Revival: Belief in God Triples Among 18-24 Year Old Britons

Christianity is experiencing a resurgence among young people in Britain, with a notable increase in belief in God among 18-24 year olds.

www.breitbart.com

Click to expand...

Definitely did begin to see this in our fellowship especially with an increase in the 18-34 age group visiting the church. I'm not sure whether it was down to the summer holidays in July and August but I had noticed that the church seemed more empty than normal recently though