What to Do when you feel like Quitting Philippians 3:1-16

Millions of people are quitting church. The decline in North America, I guess we could say is unprecedented.  Experts (Ed Stetzer, Thom Rainer) talk about categories of church affiliation like “nominals and nones,” and Rainer says the nones—those who say they have no faith affiliation are increasing in number.  Nominal members or cultural Christians are no longer willing to attend church simply because it is expected.  The C.E.O.’s (Christmas and Easter only), are now AWOL.  And let’s be honest, many of us have probably felt like quitting at times.  Most of us (at least I would) admit to coming face to face with some situation or season that made us wonder, “Why am I still doing this? Is it worth it?" Now I know some people are so spiritual that it never occurs to them to struggle or doubt, but for the rest of us, we may need counsel from Scripture about what to do when our thoughts turn to the idea of just joining those who have said goodbye to church.  It is the dark trade secret of the ministry that most pastors want to quit every Monday.  What are some of the challenges that confront us as we try and follow Jesus faithfully that can make us want to quit?

1. It is a difficult life, v1 – Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord” because we will be tempted to “give in to despondency and depression under trial” (R. Martin).  Later in the passage he talks about identifying with Jesus “in the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed to His death.”  If we go against the grain we will get splinters.  Satan will always oppose the advance of God’s Kingdom.  If we are Gospel-focused we should expect opposition.  It goes with the territory of faithfulness.  Two of my favorite Scriptures are Galatians 6:9 and 1 Corinthians 15:58.  They remind us of the importance of persevering even though we face opposition.

2. Rigid, religious rule-followers make it harder, v2 – The dogs referred to here are those who “hounded” the disciples.  The “evil work” was their compounding of unnecessary religious rules (like circumcision) that were contrary to the Gospel.  They absolutely denied grace and the finished work of Christ.  Christianity is not about doing, it is about trusting what Christ has done.  Anything we do as a result of what Jesus has done is just about gratitude and discipleship and worship. One reason people want nothing to do with church is the impression they have formed that it is about externals and impossible rule-keeping.  They miss the Gospel because all they hear is what Christians oppose, but they don’t hear or see the hope of the Gospel.  The longer we are church members, mark it down, the more likely we are to develop an “us vs. them” attitude and act like we are entitled insiders and forget that the Gospel was our only hope and is the world’s only hope!!

3. Religious, but lost church members make spiritual community difficult, vv-3-6.  One of the greatest barriers to healthy spiritual community is the reality of unregenerate church members.  Paul was one.  He was meticulous, earnest, zealous, passionate, pedigreed, theologically trained, and deeply committed, but he had this one tiny problem: he didn’t know the Lord.  He was religious but lost.  He was on the wrong side of the most important issue.  Let’s face it: this is still a prevalent problem.  Many people are trusting in a form in triplicate or a childhood baptism, but the truth is they aren’t a bit like Christ.  In fact they are hostile to the things He loves.  They make conference a fistfight.  They scrutinize everything that vaguely resembles progress and often unwittingly “walk as enemies of the cross” (v.18).  What do you do about that?  Be aware of it.  Let each examine his own heart (2 Cor. 13:5).  Understand the evidences that accompany authentic conversion (Gal. 5:22-23).

4. We will be tempted to quit if we get our eyes off Jesus, vv8-12.  This journey of faith will leave many casualties along the way.  We will see people who we thought would never disappoint us fail royally.  We will see the marriages of friends fail (or our own).  We will have children abandon the faith they were raised to follow.  We will see people inexplicably struck down by death and disease in an untimely manner.  We will struggle with the same old temptations over and over and over.  We will.  We will forget that we are subject to highs and lows and emotions and that we are saved people in fallen bodies.   We will struggle with the questions of why bad things happen to good people.  We will have deep valleys where the sun seems like the remotest thing in the universe.  We will be betrayed.  We will be haunted by our past hurts, hang-ups and personal failures.  We’ll be pressed upon by a culture that thinks our entire belief system is ridiculous.  And if enough things land on the scales they may begin to tilt toward cynicism and doubt.  So here is how Paul fought against this inclination:

• Continually value the knowledge of Christ above everything else (v.8)
• Understand imputed righteousness (GRACE!) (v.9). We don’t deserve it, but God freely gives (John 1:12, Titus 3:5, Eph. 2:8-9)
• Keep a singular focus: “One thing I do.”  Our relationship with Christ has to keep informing everything, v.13. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
• Press on!!!  Keep a healthy discontentment.  Confront the complacency and apathy in your life and church.  It’s unhealthy.  Someone defined status quo as “the mess we’re in.”  True.
• Remember your calling, v.14.  You are invited and summoned by God. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).  God has a place for you in His kingdom (Ephesians 2:10).  Gravitate to that.  Don’t pack up and run away.

Conclusion – Vance Havner said when we feel burnt out we can either resign or re-sign.  Sometimes we need to be reminded of why this matters so much.  We need to be reminded that quitting is not an option that honors God.  We can become jaded and cynical, but the outcome of that will be the reality that we wasted our lives and didn’t exercise our will and attitude to the best of our ability.  We will come to see that we got wrapped up in ourselves and lost sight of the One who can help.  It is important not to let the peripheral things keep us from faithfulness to Christ.  We only get one shot at this—our encouragement: press on!