Reasons for not attending

Ask the unchurched why they don’t attend and chances are the first thing they’ll say is this: “I don’t go to church because the church is filled with what? That’s right: “Hypocrites.” Consider these examples:

Erin, age thirty, says her husband abused her, “even though he taught Bible studies about how husbands should love their wives.” Now she is divorced; her faith has taken a beating.

Victoria is a 24-year old single mom. She described the impact of hypocrisy this way: “Everyone in my church gave me advice about how to raise my son, but a lot of the time they seemed to be reminding me that I have no husband—and besides, most of them were not following their own advice. It made it hard to care what they said. They were not practicing what they preached.” She is not currently attending church.