‘The Great Dechurching’

From the orthodox, theological point of view the secular person is not less religious, but has distanced himself from the public proclamation of the Word and has become his own pastor (and church) most likely. If one’s desired expression of Christianity desired does not fit any existing church, it is faulty and quite personal.

The reasons given for leaving a church are often not the true spiritual reasons, since they are of the flesh—which cannot admit it is unspiritual and condemned under the law entirely, unable to please God in the least. The people who have fallen away from hearing God’s Word have embraced the world’s religion. Perhaps they were not grounded in Christian doctrine and the Scriptures. Earthly interests competed for their worship and became more crucial. Pastors must be able to deal with these issues head-on and provide a more godly alternative that leads to eternal life. —ed.