Why People Leave IFB Churches? | Why I Left My Church? - Written Testimony

What you’ve listened to is an excerpt from a short interview with an IFB missionary to Slovenia, Europe, before his sermon in my former church for their 3rd anniversary service. A question was asked about what were some of the toughest battles or struggles for him and his family during his years in the mission field, and this was his response.

Lest there be a misunderstanding: this was not about me. He is talking about his personal experience from his church in Slovenia. My former church (where he was the guest preacher in this recording) is in another country. But having been on the other side, I want to use this opportunity to share some thoughts, and hopefully do so respectfully and graciously.

I can honestly say that I sympathize with this pastor. Though we are not told all the details and reasons for those people leaving his church (I’m sure that some left for wrong reasons, and some for right reasons), I fully understand his point of view. Having been someone “on the other side of the story”, who had to struggle with the decision to leave my church for a long period of time (almost a full year), the thought of bringing hurt to my pastor and his family, as well as the congregation, was always a factor that was at the front of my mind.

Leaving my church was one of the hardest things I ever did, knowing that from my pastor’s perspective it would look exactly as presented here – heartbreaking. I can assure you that it was heartbreaking for me as much as it has been for my pastor. The last thing I ever wanted to do is to give the impression of making an enemy out of a church of professing Christians.
Now, I am fully aware that leaving my church for theological reasons from the pastor’s perspective must look like I have gone astray, and that it also implies that I consider him and his church to be in error. I do not make that assertion lightly, I strongly dislike even making it against a local fellowship of Christ’s body. In my lengthy e-mail explaining in-depth the scripturally based theological reasons for my leaving, I admit I did not display as much grace I should have in certain places, though I tried. And for that I am sincerely sorry.
My purpose was to not hide anything and give the full story, knowing that pastors are usually the last ones to find out the true reason for someone’s leaving the church, while everyone else in the church has already known. I decided to do the opposite – tell only my pastor, and tell the full story, and mention nothing to anyone else in the church, but just quietly disappear and never contacting anyone again, lest I should even be tempted to talk against pastor and church to the members I once had fellowship with.

Ever since I left, I’ve never listened to their service streams, since there is no reason to, and that part of my life is over. Occasionally I would play it for a few minutes, when nostalgia kicks in, but soon the good memories start coming back, the good times of fellowship, memories of dear brothers and sisters there I miss, the opportunities to serve in evangelism, and just the general blessing and a step up in my Christian life that two-year experience truly was for me – it becomes painful. I’ve been there since the church opened in 2018, and rarely missed a service. I lost all that, and it affects me to this day. It is difficult to even listen to the old hymns we sang, which I haven’t done so in almost two years now.

Of course, the most difficult and painful thing is that Independent Baptists tend to see people like me – non-KJV-only, 5-point Calvinists – as saved but massively deceived at best, or as lost and the enemy of the Word of God and the enemy of evangelism at worst. Depends on the particular group within the IFB, of course. From interaction with my former pastor I got the impression that he would be in the former group.
But it has been my experience in the years of being a part of the more radical group in the IFB that the most hated people are in fact those who reject King James Onlyism and are Reformed, who are considered on-par with unbelievers. Worse, in fact. Given that my closest friends are associated with that group, as I was along with them years ago, I have to take that into consideration as well.
I have participated in that hatred myself, though in great ignorance, so I guess it is only appropriate to find myself in this situation. I now reap what I have sowed and I accept it.

In summary; my intention is not to attack my former church. I won’t mention any names or locations. I have no ill-will toward them. At the time they were a major blessing in my life and for that I am grateful. And by “church” I don’t mean just the pastor, but every member that I had friendship with, and every event that we collectively participated in beside the preaching services.

I wish to provide my side of the story in the comment section, due to the lack of space here.

#IFB #NewIFB #Testimony

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My background is two-fold. I grew up as nominal Roman Catholic in a European country, where English is not the native language.
I made a profession of faith in May 2015 after coming across a New IFB documentary promoting King James onlysim, which had a gospel presentation at the end. As a result, I believed that KJV is the only translation one should use, that translations of the Bible in other languages must agree with the KJV, and that IFB style churches are the closest to the New Testament church.
As a result, I joined an Independent Baptist church started my missionaries from USA in 2018, since they hold the same basic beliefs. They differ on eschatology – New IFB rejecting Dispensationalism, this church teaches Dispensationalism.
Even though those two groups dislike each other (sometimes to the point of anatematizing each other), I’ve had nothing but good fellowship in my church, despite the doctrinal differences.

[classicchristianliterature]

I was saved years ago in an IFB campmeeting. After about 8 years of being a Christian, I had exhausted almost all IFB literature (all the KJV bible defense books, all the dispensationalism/rapture defenses...etc.) and I really wanted to know more. I was a strong anti-calvinist and had taught in multiple churches about the dangers of calvinism. I wanted to take a second look at the books I had used for my sources against Reformed theology and it was actually the arguments of the anti-calvinists themselves that made me think "hmm...maybe there is something to this Calvinism thing." I started listening to James White and reading RC Sproul, John Piper...etc. Once I read some of Charles Spurgeon's sermons on reformed theology and watched the James White vs. Leighton Flowers debate on Romans 9 I was in crisis mode. I could not deny the what the Bible taught any more. It was me who was guilty of using philosophy to reject the clear teaching of Scripture and NOT the Calvinists themselves. I still thought to myself, "there is no way, I will go outside of the IFB resources and read what some of these other guys have to say". I read Norman Geisler's "Chosen but Free" and Leighton Flowers' "The Potter's Promise" as well as some others. This was the nail in the coffin. The arguments were so bad, the logic was so twisted, and the Scriptural exegesis made no sense (e.g. literally turning passages on their head...etc.). I then read "Chosen by God" by RC Sproul and "Boettner's "Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" and I fell in love with reformed theology because I realized it is Biblical theology. I could no longer be anti-calvinistic or "neutral", I had to be Reformed to accept the teaching of God's word. So for me 1st it was Reformed theology over a system that claimed to be "neither Calvinist nor Arminian". 2nd was eschatology. I soon devoured works on eschatology and got rid of dispensationalism. I never realized that it was a theological novum conjured up by JN Darby and popularized in America by CI Scofield and DL Moody. I never realized that amillenialism was so clearly taught by the bible. 3rd it was the KJVO debate. I never knew that there was another position that still believed in inspiration and preservation outside of the KJVO circle. Actually, KJVO do not hold to preservation at all - but RESTORATION - since the Bible "became" pure in 1611 for them. We have always had God's word in every generation THROUGH the copies of the original manuscripts. God gave His word in the original languages and He has kept His word in the original languages. Thank God that we can have accurate and faithful translations in our own "vulgar tongue". Sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura, solus christus, soli deo gloria!

The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New
Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being
immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentic;
so as in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal to them. But because these original tongues are
not known to all the people of God, who have a right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded in the
fear of God to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto
which they come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner,
and through patience and comfort of the Scriptures may have hope.