The Practice of Quitting

Have you noticed that quitting seems to be a popular subject?

A few years ago, the phrase “quiet quitting” went viral. The term was used to describe people who fulfilled basic job requirements but did little more than what was expected. And now, several popular books have followed to further the subject of when it is appropriate to quit or not.

This doesn’t necessarily mean quitting a job, but usually it describes when to quit a project, program, or a start-up business.

In the book, “Quitting: the power of knowing when to walk away,” by Annie Duke, she effectively uses her experience as a professional poker player to know when to fold or to persevere.

She asks, “What is the difference between having grit or knowing when to quit?”

My football coach had a big sign over his desk that read, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” This thought has stayed with me since my playing days. There is a stigma attached to quitting, because we don’t want to be a failure. Is that healthy?

The Science of Quitting

Productivity and enthusiasm can often grow stale in the redundancy of doing something that people don’t like to do, or results are no longer satisfying. It is common for a person or organization to get too attached to an activity or program that makes it almost impossible to quit. There is a feeling that too much time and resources have been invested into the program or people don’t want to label something as a failure.

The science of quitting states that when you stop doing something that feels like it’s not working or redundant, quitting can breed creativity to try something else. Greater possibilities for success can be stumbled upon or you may discover something that you enjoy doing. Ultimately, this can lead to higher productivity.

Quit or Grit: When should you continue or stop a program or activity at your church?

Grit is worthwhile if it is leading to the accomplishment of a goal. Quit is worthwhile when a goal is no longer worth pursuing or you have accomplished a goal with less than reasonable results. The reluctance to quit is often emotionally driven. It’s hard to let go when emotions override reason, but quitting can often keep you sane.

How do we know when to exercise grit or to quit?

The definition of success ought to be pre-determined, well-communicated, and agreed upon. For example, if the increase of worship attendance or church membership heavily influences the success of an outreach program or activity, then it will be reflected in how the congregation responds.

If the primary goal of an outreach activity is to engage the community, teach God’s Word to children and families, or seek entry points to communicate the gospel, then these goals ought to be constantly reminded, processed, and celebrated.

Perhaps the simplest way to answer this question is that if you are thinking about quitting, it is probably past the time that you ought to quit.

One last thing.

Outreach strategies ought never to fail if the primary goal and motivation is to make Christ known in our community — and not look to increase our membership.

Evangelism will always be difficult and scary. We can process fear and failure by processing success through the lens of the gospel. Perhaps my football coach was close to being right. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Saints in Christ ought to never quit because of what Christ has already done for us, because quitting acknowledges the lie that the devil is winning.