Members and attenders of the Reformed Churches in general seem to be able to jump ship from a particular church to another quite easily. The reasons are not usually because people move away from the area, but for other ‘human’ reasons. Hopscotch can be played because we fall out with other members, or the music isn’t right, or the minister doesn’t quite tick your box. Reformed christians can be a fickle lot.
I found myself wondering if Jews jump Synagogues, or Muslims jump Mosques, or Roman Catholics jump Chapels for the same reasons. I don’t think so, but you can feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Maybe the protestants are not so good at real ‘God Worship’, and are more inclined to be judgemental? Just a thought.
If we go to church to worship God as our primary and even sole purpose, does it show us as a bit shallow if we jump ship for these other ‘human’ reasons? What if we get to heaven, and the choir isn’t as good as we thought, or St Peter isn’t as rugged and handsome as we imagined, or there are folks who made heaven that we just couldn’t get on with while on earth? Hold on, these aren’t the reasons we are in heaven. It is everything, and only, to do with worshipping our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Anything less is unChristlike, and we wouldn’t fit in, would we?
Having said all that, I can fully accept, and agree, that if any church or religious denomination at any level, falls away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ, then we should not be playing hopscotch, we should be doing an immediate sprint dash away from it, as fast as we can and as far from it as possible. We cannot live in harmony with bad theology that translates into false prophets or prophesy.
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 2 Peter 2:1-2 NIV