At Home – by Rudy Gray

There is a new phenomenon called “church hopping” today. This is unlike the old-fashioned church hopping, where people would join one church for a few years and then switch to another and then repeat the pattern several times.

Rudy Gray

This new type of church hopping involves people who select a few different churches and attend the one they are in the mood for on that particular day. They may like the music at one church, the small group Bible study at another, the preaching at another, the laid-back feel at one or the more liturgical structure at another.

The new church hopper does not typically volunteer time or give money on any type of regular basis. They appear to be very individualistic and show no particular loyalty to any church or denomination. It seems their approach is “Serve me,” rather than “I want to serve.”

This comes at a time when the overall confidence of Americans in organized religion has reached a new low. In a Gallup survey of 1,004 adults in June, only 49 percent have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the church. That number was 68 percent in the the 1970s. Gallup senior editor Lydia Saad wrote, “Americans are still generally a very religious people, although increasingly on their own terms.”

Today’s church hoppers do not want to tie themselves to one particular church or especially to one particular denomination. However, in the midst of this current trend, many pastors are asking where is the sense of community?

In fact, being in a church where we can find support, fellowship, and accountability is important to our spiritual and emotional well-being. It is a blessing to be in a church, and, within that church, a small group like Sunday school where we can know others and be known by others. Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us: “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Belonging to a local church can have its problems for sure. There are no perfect churches or people. But being with people we know and who know us can give us a sense of belonging and can be a powerful source of peace and security.

No person is an island. We need others. Hopping from church to church does not provide the relationships we need in today’s fragmented, individualistic, and, often ungodly, culture. Instead of church hopping, the best approach is to settle in with a Bible-believing congregation who loves God and who will love others.