The current rise of churchgoers who want to depart for causes like #LeaveLoud cases is disconcerting, since it suggests a "falling away" pattern.
A group named "The Witness" has recently launched a social media campaign that calls on African American Christians to speak out using the hashtag "# LeaveLoud" via podcast episodes and blogs. Additionally, they encourage them to abandon "predominantly white or multiethnic" congregations "if they have been dishonored," reports The Colson Center's Break Point.
The Witness also encouraged them to be outspoken outside as well as within the church, which they see as being institutionally oppressive.
And it's true that there are certain concerns that justify quitting a church, such as bullying or skewed theology. Many of the African American believers have been neglected or harmed, either specifically or indirectly, by fellow Christians. And, depending on the circumstances, church leaders ought to be informed of factors that influence disengagement from Christ's Body.
Nonetheless, much of what is observed, according to the Break Point authors John Stonestreet and Maria Baer, is more of a "I'm-leaving-church-and-please-watch-me-leave" trend. It's not just a trendy thing to do to follow the "exvangelicalism" movement; it's also a trendy way to be famous. They said that after observing people "leave loud," they've noticed "at least a few troubling themes emerge."
"Almost without fail, a person leaving a church loud will cite bad or hurtful behavior by the people or leadership at the church. And of course, no one wants to stick around where they are mistreated.," they wrote. "However, in a culture that has widely embraced moralistic therapeutic deism, many thinks that being morally challenged, or anything that falls short of all-out affirmation, counts as "personal harm."
Per a Gallup survey, interpersonal conflict is also a major cause for quitting church. However, the percentage of people quitting a specific church due to interpersonal conflict is smaller than the number of people leaving a whole religious practice due to interpersonal conflict. According to the survey, the main cause of declining church affiliation is individuals abandoning religion entirely.
"To publicly denounce a particular congregation, not to mention a particular denomination (not to mention an entire faith tradition), because of how people behaved is to misunderstand what Christianity is," points out Break Point.
"It is first and foremost a commitment to Jesus Christ which, second, involves a set of claims about reality. Claims of who Jesus is and what Christianity teaches must be evaluated on their own merit, but many churches have failed to prepare young people to do this."
Taking all these considerations into account, they wonder if "leavers" who accuse people of being the reason for leaving the Church are really just angry with God. Too many "exvangelicals" and liberal Christians who start by mourning the misconduct of fellow church people end up denying the spiritual assertions of the Bible concerning sexuality or the judgment of God on sin or the rule of Jesus Christ.
They also commented that the more world brands the church as out of date, the more difficult it is to separate out its different motives from all the others.
"What is clear is that it is essential, at least for anyone who intends to persevere in the faith, to know what the Faith is," they concluded.
Listen to the Colson Center's John Stonestreet explaining the trend below:
