Quitting Church: The Pastor Problem Part 1: Why the good ones tend to leave

Quitting church asks if the pastors are the problem. Now we all know some pastors are charlatans and con artists but I don't think the majority of pastors get into it because they want to hustle and scam the members. I think many pastors genuinely go into the ministry because they want to help people.

These days the con artists don't even try to hide it that they are hustling members. They continue to manipulate and lead their willing congregants astray and nobody says anything until the situation either gets out of control or someone threatens to call their lawyers

These people who have been fleecing the flock and hustling churches for years  continue doing so for years and nobody stops them.  It's clear they have zero power, influence, or real impact and their congregants continue to wallow in the mire. There are No stories of miracles, victory, or anything.

Every week They tell their congregants what they want to hear and they also don't challenge them to live out their purpose or preach messages that convict. Every week it’s, “Listen to me holler and shout for an hour to make you feel good and pass the collection plate”.

I don't want to turn this into pastor bashing because many of the bad ones will just continue to hustle people and I think it's on their members to think for themselves and head for the exit. Thankfully this is happening.

I would like to focus on the pastors who felt they were called to ministry and then walked away. I don't blame them. It's too much to deal with and many of us on the pews know how mean and awful some of the members can be.

David Bailey is a former pastor who was interviewed for Quitting church said this:

“Finally ministers leave because they are so tired. They just cannot fight it anymore. People are so mean in church and relentless in attacking their pastors.”

He ended up leaving the church because he outgrew it. 

“I left [the church] because the values of the gospel could not be lived out there.”

The above statements and this one illustrate my current journey.  

“I think people in a crisis with church need to zero program their life, get down to the basics, then rebuild from there. Get out of all the roles you played.”

This is how I feel right now. It's me and God right now and not all of the added distraction of feeling like i need to do this and that in order to fit the standard of church.

I think a pastor who genuinely wants to help people and be of service may have a very hard time doing it in church. Pastor Barbara Taylor Brown said that once she left church she was able to minister more fully as a human being. Many statistics show that pastors have a high burnout and attrition rate. I've known a number to not only leave ministry but completely leave Christianity altogether.