“Why” Some People Quit Going to Church

The Last Exodus

by Chip Brogden

Many people are beginning to see the truth. They are beginning to see that there is a called-out remnant of people – a “Church in the Wilderness” that God is separating and calling out of Organized Religion.

And this is not a mere reaction to being hurt, or rejected, or just being rebellious. It is actually the fulfilment of a prophetic sequence of events that has already been established in the Scriptures and in the history of the nation of Israel. It is the final calling out of a remnant of Overcomers who will bear the Testimony of Jesus and stand for the pre-eminence of Christ in all things as we prepare for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the inevitable judgment upon those who claim to represent Him, but do not.

These Overcomers have been called by God to forsake “Churchianity” – not to forsake the joining and assembling of the members of Christ’s Body, but to forsake the hypocrisy of the religious spirits that masquerade as the Holy Spirit. They are not forsaking the people of God, they are forsaking the counterfeit, hypocritical worship of God that Jesus Himself condemned as “vain worship” – it does not meet the Lord’s Need or satisfy God’s heart. They have rejected a religious system that is led by blind leaders of the blind. They are simply following the command of Jesus to “leave them alone” (Mt. 15:14).

Other men and women of God have seen these things in the past, but many would not speak of them openly and freely. They would only go so far and in many cases they were still very much a part of the religious system, still trying to reform it or calling it to repent. Someone like A. W. Tozer, who was a prophetic voice to his generation, yet still operated as a pastor within the religious system. That may have been acceptable in that generation, and in that season.

But we are in a different season now. The spirit of Religion is worse, darker, and more deceptive than ever. The days when you could be a part of that system and try to speak against it are over. Many men and women of God saw the truth about Churchianity but still tried to maintain fellowship, ties, or rapport with it in hopes of changing it. Often they preached the pre-eminence of Christ, but they did not make it clear what that leads to: a repudiation of everything that does not give Christ the pre-eminence, and in particular, those things that are said and done in the Name of Jesus but have nothing to do with Jesus. Perhaps that was acceptable in their generation, and maybe it was permissible to let people fill in the blanks and come to their own conclusions.

But this generation is different. What could be left unsaid in times past now needs to be made crystal clear. If you follow this revelation of Christ to its ultimate conclusion, and if you truly desire to give Him pre-eminence in all things, then you will eventually find that you have nothing in common with the religious system that man has created in His Name.

The Cloud has moved on, and if we want to live, we had better follow the Cloud. You cannot have one foot in and one foot out. You cannot go back to Egypt or get comfortable in Babylon. You cannot stop and camp out with the latest truth, when God has called you to live outside the camp. He is always leading us on.

Thank God for the men and women of times gone by who were obedient to the truth and spoke as much or as little as God would have them say. But we are now witnessing something that we have not witnessed in previous generations. What is the Holy Spirit speaking to us today? How is God leading us now? What is the present truth for our generation? And are we willing to follow the truth all the way to its unavoidable conclusion, no matter what it costs us in terms of reputation, comfort, acceptance, position, or fellowship with Churchianity?

Among those with spiritual discernment, there is an uncomfortable, embarrassing difference between the power and practice of the New Testament Church and the religious organizations and denominations that have since come into existence. What began as a living, Christ-centered faith has evolved into something far removed from what Jesus intended when He declared: “I will build My Church (Ekklesia), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

What IS this Church that Jesus is building? What does it look like? Where is it located? Who is in charge of it? Do the religious institutions and leaders of today really represent the faith that was first given to us by Christ, taught by the apostles and confirmed by the Holy Spirit? Or has Christianity been replaced by “Churchianity”?

Some say God is calling us to restore the Church to what it used to be. They believe the answer lies in preaching, repentance, reformation, and working from within the system to repair it.

But a growing number of Christians say that the Church as it exists today was never God’s intention in the first place. They have forsaken the “old wineskins” and religious structures of Christendom to follow Jesus in the simplicity that the early Christians followed Him. They are not called to fix the system, but to come out of it altogether. They still love the people, and are concerned for the people. They do miss something of the fellowship they once thought they had. And sometimes they miss it so much that they do go and visit other churches, trying to fit in, trying to find a place. But try as they might, something in them just cannot go along with it anymore.

Who are these people? They are part of a growing number of Christians that make up a “Church in the Wilderness” – followers of Jesus from all over the world who love God, and love God’s people, but reject the trappings of Sunday Morning Religion. This mass exodus of people from the religious system is not only inevitable, it is the fulfilment of prophecy, and sets the stage for “the final chapter in Christianity” – when Jesus suddenly returns to reward the Overcomers, judge the hypocrites, and establish His Kingdom on earth.

In his newest book, “The Church in the Wilderness: What It Means to Follow Jesus Outside of Organized Religion”, Chip tears down the sacred cows and religious traditions of “Churchianity” and paints a picture of what Jesus really wants. This book includes many of his most popular essays as well as some brand new material never released.

If you still attend church, you’ll be confronted and challenged to consider a different point of view. If you don’t attend church, you’ll be encouraged to know you are not alone. But regardless of what you believe, you’ll have your eyes opened to a spiritual vision of “church” the way Jesus meant for it to be.

I am your brother,

Chip Brogden

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