Matthew Stuckey here from Verity Baptist Church Manila, just providing you a quick video giving you advice on how to leave a church.
And the reason why I'm making this video is that there are a lot of people that listen to our preaching online.
And they consider themselves like-minded.
And they want to be a part of Verity Baptist Church Manila.
But the reason why they're not is because they've been members of a Baptist church or some other church for a long period of time.
Now in the Philippines it's kind of looked at as you're supposed to have tons of respect for your pastor or your church leader.
And I agree with that. That makes sense.
But they push it to a whole other level that is completely unhealthy.
And basically, you know, you feel like you owe your pastor because he's been the one running your church for six years.
And even though he's not preaching good doctrine and not going soul winning, you feel obligated to stick around.
Well, I want you to understand that, you know, first off, I've been in that situation before.
I have left Baptist churches before because they were lame, because they weren't doing soul winning, they weren't preaching hard.
And it's not easy. I'm not claiming it's an easy thing to do where you're telling your pastor that you're going to go to another church.
But I will say this, that, you know, when it comes to churches, pastors are supposed to be doing a few things.
They are supposed to be doing lots of soul winning.
Just like any other person in the church, they need to be going out soul winning, but also that they're leading the charge.
And so they ought to be going soul winning, having soul winning times, soul winning marathons, leading the charge, being zealous.
They should be telling soul winning stories from the pulpit in their sermons because they're going soul winning and they're having all these examples that they can use.
They should be doing that. And look, if your pastor's not doing that, well, there's a big problem there.
But, you know, not only that, but the church is supposed to be the pillar and ground of truth.
And as it's the pillar and ground of truth, look, if your pastor is not teaching you anything,
and quite honestly, you're learning false things as he's saying that you've got to repent of your sins.
And he's saying that, you know what, that if you're really saved, you're going to bear the fruit.
And he's not leading the charge. Look, he's not teaching you anything.
You shouldn't feel obligated when he's not even doing his job.
Look, his job is to teach you the word of God.
And look, at Verity Baptist Church Manila, I'm sure if you asked our members at our church,
you know, even if they think there's a lot of problems with their church or they think things should be done differently,
no one could say that they don't learn at our church.
Because I spend a lot of time on my sermons, I really study to prepare those sermons,
because people are coming and putting in a whole day to hear the word of God and to fellowship,
and I want to make sure that they didn't waste their time.
But, you know, quite honestly, at most of these Baptist churches here in the Philippines,
you go to these churches and you're wasting your time.
Not only are you not learning, but you're hearing false things.
And my question is, how is it that your pastor can't even teach you something from the word of God?
I mean, good night. I mean, if he's been preaching for 20 years and he has nothing to teach you,
and you should not feel obligated to stick around that dead-as-a-doornail church,
because it's going to affect you.
Look, you are not going to be able to make that church be zealous for the things of God.
It's only going to drag you down.
Imagine if I was standing on top of a table.
And let's say my wife was standing on the ground.
Okay?
Look, you know, it wouldn't be that easy for me to pull up my wife onto the table.
Quite honestly, even though I'm bigger than my wife and I'm stronger than my wife,
she might actually be able to pull me down because of just gravity.
And you have to understand something, that you that are standing on the table,
you're trying to pull up these dead-as-a-doornail pastors to your level,
when oftentimes you're not even saved.
Look, you're not going to be successful.
Actually, they're going to drag you down to their level.
And look, it is their job to teach you the Word of God.
And if they're not teaching you the Word of God, they're not going soul winning,
they're not preaching hard to motivate you,
look, they're doing you a disservice.
They're not helping you. That is their job.
You shouldn't feel obligated to stick around because,
well, you know, he's dedicated 15 years to serve you and to be your pastor.
Look, if he's not teaching you the Word of God,
he's not sending you out soul winning,
and he's not preaching hard and motivating you,
he's not doing his job. He hasn't been serving you for 15 years.
That is his job to do.
Don't feel guilty about leaving the church.
So how do you leave the church?
Well, first off, don't feel guilty and feel obligated.
You must stick around if the church is dead-as-a-doornail, okay?
But in terms of leaving, you've just got to make a decision to go.
That's what you've got to do.
You've got to, you know, tell your pastor,
hey, I'm just going to leave.
Or you can just decide to leave, send an email, call, whatever.
The most respectful thing to do would probably be to tell them face-to-face.
Unfortunately, you know, that doesn't always go well,
I know from personal experience.
But, you know, you've got to just make a decision to go
and just set a date and say, you know what,
I'm going to go to a church that's right in the things of God.
And I have other friends in the Philippines that are good men of God in good churches,
and I would recommend their churches.
I'm not saying we're the only church,
and you know what, you might see this video from somewhere else in the Philippines.
You know, ask me and I might know of a church nearby that's right on the things of God.
But it's frustrating to me to see a bunch of people staying in dead-as-a-doornail churches
when there's other churches where the pastors or evangelists are preaching hard against sin,
they're going soul winning, they're really working hard,
and there's people that want to be a part of their church,
but they're not because they just can't leave their old church.
And look, you're not obligated to stick around that church.
If advice was coming from Jesus Christ, he would tell you,
leave the church that's dead-as-a-doornail,
and go to a church that's actually doing the things of God.
That's what you need to do.
At our church, we have had tons of people that have left Baptist churches
to join Verity Baptist Church Manila.
And quite honestly, I think it was probably tough for each and every single one of them,
because they have friends in that church,
they've established relationships,
but they knew that they wanted to be right with God,
and they knew that it was Verity Baptist Church Manila
where the people that are going soul winning and reading the Bible
and zealous for the things of God,
that is where they congregate on Sundays in our area in Metro Manila.
That is the church.
And in other areas, it's a different church.
But in our area, this is the church where people that are really zealous for the things of God come.
And that's where you ought to be a member if you're in the area,
because as far as I know, there's not really a good church in the area outside of it.
And you know, quite honestly, a lot of you are going to see this video and agree with me.
You've got to just decide to leave your church then.
If you want to be a member of this church,
you've got to just decide to leave your old church that's dead as a door now.
Look, many people have done the exact same thing.
I've done that before.
Most of the members of our church have done that as well.
And unfortunately, sometimes you lose friendships,
you lose close relationships with family,
you get persecuted.
But you know what?
There's a cost for serving God.
And quite honestly, if you ask the members of our church
that have left to join Verity Baptist Church Manila,
none of them regret it.
In fact, they're very happy.
It was so hard to make that decision at the time,
but you know what?
They don't regret it now.
Why?
They get soul saved every week.
They have the greatest friends they could ever ask for.
They're learning the Word of God each and every week
and making changes as a result of being around God's people,
going soul winning, and being motivated by the preaching
and learning from the preaching of the Word of God.
If you want advice for leaving your old church,
hey, just make a decision to leave and just do it.
That's what you've got to do.
Otherwise, you're going to vex your righteous soul day by day.
And quite honestly, you could save yourself a year of living a miserable life
and just rip off the Band-Aid now
and just join the best church in your area.
And you know what?
Eventually, the pain goes away.
It hurts when you rip off the Band-Aid.
It goes away, though, after 10 minutes.
It's gone.
The feeling's gone.
You will not regret it.
Thank you and God bless.