Four Reasons Why Non-attending Church Members Are Toxic

"Biblically, if a member shows prolonged negligence in gathering with God's people, how can he say he loves them? And if he doesn't love them, how can he say he loves God (cf. 1 John 4:20-21)?

Pastorally, if a member who could attend continually neglects to meet with the people of God, church leaders are simply no longer in a position to externally witness the fruit of his life, and for that reason can no longer externally affirm his conversion by uninterrupted membership.

Evangelistically, meaningless membership damages the corporate evangelistic witness of the church in the surrounding community. Members usually go AWOL to cover up more serious sin; but they are committing that sin as people who are still likely to be know by others in your community as members of your church! In other words, they are sinning in ways that make your church look hypocritical to the unbelievers in your community.

Most seriously of all, when we allow prolonged nonattenders to keep their names on the membership rolls, we actually help deceive them into thinking they are saved when their behavior is in fact calling their salvation into question."

--Mark Dever, The Deliberate Church