Who Get's Hurt?
(from The Oakwood Oracle, September 15, 1996)

An old preacher said to his audience, "Some people think they hurt the
church when they get mad and quit, but they are wrong about that. It never
hurt a good tree for the dried apples to fall off."

The lesson is that people who might have a spiteful attitude and who try
to show their anger in an effort to hurt the church, actually only hurt
themselves. There are very few who may feel that the church can't get
along without them. They want to be begged constantly, so they won't quit.

Actually, I would be glad to beg such people to be faithful, but my
reason is not that they will harm the church, but that they will be lost
if they quit. If they are as dried-up apples, they can do no harm by
"dropping off." The "tree" will not only survive, but it will be free
from this extra load. But, if they quit, they will have cut themselves
off from the source of all spiritual blessings (Ephes. 1:3).

Don't quit the church, for when you do, you quit the Lord. He does love
you, but He won't save you outside the blood-bought body, the church, for
which he died (Ephes. 5:25).  If you love the Lord who died to save you,
you will certainly love the church which is His. (Leslie Diestlekamp)