Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"If you're no good where you are, you'll be no good where you go."
There are few good reasons for leaving one congregation to join another. Most commonly, people join a new congregation because they have not gotten along very well with the former one. But as the preacher said, "If you're no good where you are, you'll be no good where you go." You can flee from a congregation, but you cannot escape from a contentious, self-willed spirit if you carry it around with you!
A good reason for leaving one congregation for another is to outgrow that congregation in spirit. This happens when a person is sincere, walks in the Spirit, and trusts God to guide him. There is not one congregation in all of Christianity that a sincere child of God will not outgrow if he persists in faith and believes what the Spirit tells him. Eventually, every child of God who continues to grow in grace will outgrow everything that Christianity has to offer and will leave it.
When people leave one congregation for another, they usually leave because of a conflict and often cannot feel the love of God when they think of their former fellow worshipers. But whenever a child of God outgrows a congregation and moves on in the light of Christ, he finds that he loves the members of his former congregation far more intensely than he did when he was among them. This is because if we really outgrow a congregation, we have become more like Jesus, who loves more than mortal man can love.
Yes, "If you're no good where you are, you'll be no good where you go." But if you are good where you are, then you'll be even better in the place where Jesus will lead you.