Is it ever appropriate to change churches? In this Q&A video, Bill Johnson and Dann Farrelly discuss their thoughts on this question, and how to transition with grace and honor if you sense God leading you to another church.
a question is it appropriate
uh to move to another place in other
words to change churches
to be part of a body of believers that
shares your heart and your pursuit of
the lord and
i imagine if so when and you know
that’s a good question yeah yeah i’m
like just give you that
lob that softball to you yeah yeah
[Laughter]
you know it’s a hard one it’s a hard one
because for one person you know
get out for another person they need to
stay you know
it used to be i always counsel people to
stay i did because i
i really like the local church i love
every
part of it i mean every group i think
has value
and you know just encourage people just
stick it out and pray
you know do what you need to do to get
supplements you know
you know go to the conference you know
you know get the tapes do something you
know that will
help you to stay you know burning but
in the last few years i’ve i’ve just
realized you know what
we don’t have all that much time you
know for some people it just might be
good just to
pack up and move you know so it’s more
case by case
and rather than just a carton launch
either leave or stay
not out of principle at all yeah that’s
case it’s case by case
the main thing is you’ve got to hear
from the lord right and uh there are
some people that i’ve watched through
the years they were ready to go
and it looked hopeless but they stayed
for just a little bit longer
and then there was a breakthrough and so
i always lean towards that you just pray
the lord will make it clear you know he
doesn’t withhold information from you
it doesn’t withhold direction from us i
should say absolutely
he’ll he’ll make it clear if we’re
willing to do whatever he wants us to do
yeah you know absolutely but if there’s
anger or frustration that’s a real poor
way to make a decision you know it’s
just better to make it out of a
life-giving
choice yeah you know and and always try
to do it honorably if the lord does move
somebody try to do it honorably
you know but uh
i’ve just seen where the lord has moved
people but you know my preferences still
stay stick it out yeah stick it be part
of the solution and
some folks are here that’s it there’s
that mindset says i’m here to get fed
you’re like well or you can get fed in
your quiet time you know and you’re
hanging out with jesus every day
in the ipod in the podcast and you can
actually go to a place and serve
that could be your assignment in that
house that’s exactly right it’s uh
it’s not a place to eat yeah you know
it’s a um i think if you’re careful
about that because i’ve talked to
pastors who
if they’ve kind of treat their pastors
like you know i don’t actually get fed
by you anyway i you know i do it over
here and
that’s a real tough message i know i i
had somebody come to me once they said
do you have any tape second bro i said
sure it says yeah i’m not getting fed by
your messages
do you have any tapes for sure i guess
maybe paper remember it will help you
yeah yeah we’ll find someone that can
help you out
i think we have to be careful about that
we have that a little bit with just the
you know the
the the impact we have you know we have
to be careful that people don’t go to
their
their pastor in another town and and
begin to treat them like
you’re not actually revelating anything
that’s useful to me yeah i’m just here
to serve you that is a difficult message
for a pastor to hear yeah i know and uh
that might not even be true it might not
be that i’ve grown you know
deaf to somebody what somebody’s
offering you know i’m i’ve grown
thankless
for what they’re that they have in their
ministry any number of things could be
going on but
yeah i probably would say just don’t
send that weird message to your pastor
that’s
no painful it’s devastating for them
it’s just absolutely arrogant
yeah you know proverbs says that to
a hungry man any bitter thing is sweet
yeah but a person is full even they get
tired of honey
it gets loathsome so what happens is is
there’s a you know
people that remain hungry appreciate
whatever they’re given
yeah you know but those who
live a satisfied life and that’s not in
a positive sense
but religiously insulated from their own
need
you know they’re you know people don’t
get fed in certain churches well maybe
you’re designing spiritual mexican food
and you’re being served italian yeah
you know learn to eat what they’re
what’s being served yeah you’re part of
that house that’s your meal
yeah you know it is it is a tough one
though it’s challenging
the the problem the reason i’ve changed
my view just a little bit is i’ve
watched people stay in a place for 20 30
40 years
no change no progress they’re dying yeah
you know they’ve been dead for a long
time they’ve tried to be faithful and
faithful and faithful and yeah
yeah and i you know it sure would seem
to me the lord would want you to thrive
but uh but don’t move to writing to do
it just find somewhere
you know yeah that’s absolutely i’ve
talked to some folks who’ve been you
know they’re they’re in churches that
are hung
that are moving with the lord but
they’ve left because there’s more
momentum here you know and they’ve come
to our environment like um
we’ve got a lot of amazing you know
superstars here already there’s
a zillion that come to school that are
in the church and they were a linchpin
key person in their
church in you know in the bay area this
is just needing needing hot spots
needing that move and yet they come here
we’re like no you should stay there yeah
be amazing there you know be part of the
transformation that’s going to happen
there
that’s hard for folks to do sometimes
you know they want to come and be part
of a momentum
i’m like i don’t know that’s what the
lord’s always telling you to do
i i agree completely i i just
you know it’s it’s really wonderful that
anyone would want to come here i mean
that’s that’s an honor and when they do
we you know i celebrate it and
welcome them and and hope that they get
all and more
you know what they’re hungry for but the
answer isn’t reading the answer is what
god is doing
around the world to happen in places
where it’s not happening yeah you know
for the barrier to experience their own
explosion for
you know these various places around the
world for them to have their own
you know you know place where
that this gets shaken is able to host
the presence in such a way that it
changes the climate in their region and
you know it’s it’s uh the shift has to
go from
you know toronto or redding or
to what god is doing on the earth and uh
and
learning how to host that somewhere you
know
it’s really easy to to join something
that has 30 years momentum
you know it’s what’s happening in the
world right now won’t take somebody else
30 years to get this momentum yeah
you know it you know it may take a few
yeah there’s a 100-year revival going on
you know exactly you know yeah exactly
that’s been accelerating for 100 years
no that’s exactly right i’m referring to
our the group that have worked together
developing the specific things that
we’re that we live in practice
you know it’s been going on for several
decades you know
and you know the cool thing about its
compound interest it’s now
it’s accelerating yesterday’s wages are
also earning wages today so we’re
experiencing more
but you you have to sow into that
faithfully for a long period of time and
there are many churches out there that
are ready to explode
absolutely explode we don’t need key
people leaving
that’s always been your uh you know we
don’t say it as much i don’t know if
you’ve said on
ibetheltv but one of the mission
statements we were considering
at some point we were working on our
mission statement was revival through
the local church
yeah and we had seen uh terrific para
church organizations done a great work
for god all over the world and you know
in the 70s and
the 80s was almost the age of the para
church organization
and how successful they were and yet the
the local church becoming a thriving hot
spot of the lord’s presence is
that’s that’s when real revivals will
take off and multiply like crazy
yeah absolutely i love the local church
i mean that’s
that’s the thing for me yeah it’s it’s
got to be practical
in the community of believers i love the
conferences the conventions the
other things that go on but that’s all
supplements yeah the
the meal is the is the weekly gathering
yeah
and uh and that’s got to be strong and
healthy so
yeah i that makes me happy yeah
absolutely