Serial Dating and Church S/Hopping

 Read how Jim Samra makes a thought-provoking point about church hopping/shopping in chapter three of The Gift of Church:

“We long to enjoy community, but we want it to be easy, without strings attached.  We want intimacy and depth without sacrifice and commitment.  Like serial daters, we refuse to join a church or get involved because we are always waiting to see if something better will come along.  As church members, we abandon our church with little hesitation when problems or difficulties arise, or if we discover something more exciting, relevant, or pleasing to us.”

“While many Christians rightly denounce pornography, adultery, and prostitution, how many of us think twice about church hopping?  Although pornography, adultery, and prostitution are radically more abhorrent to God than church-hopping, in many ways the same spirit animates both classes of actions – gratification of our selfish desires in contrast to the long-term commitment of a covenant relationship.”

Jim Samra, The Gift of Church, p. 75

Shane Lems
Hammond, WI