Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. — Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT
The Church is important. The Church meeting together creates opportunities for corporate worship, which is vital for spiritual growth. Believers need the Church because of the spiritual, communal, emotional, mental health and support network benefits it offers.
The Church, however, is made up of sinners and imperfect people, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Being saved does not mean that people become sinless or perfect. We are humans and we are prone to errors, misjudgments, and mistakes; put simply, we are prone to sin. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)
I know people and have heard of others who stopped attending church because of what they have experienced in the church. Some have gone as far as saying that there is no God anywhere and that Christianity is a scam! While I sincerely feel for these people and regret that they’ve experienced hurt, God is not the problem!
It is like someone attempting to sing one of Stevie Wonder’s songs and they did a terrible job of it. You don’t then turn round to blame, criticise or hate Stevie Wonder for someone else doing a bad job on his song. Another example is someone who decides not to go to the gym because they feel there are too many unfit or out of shape people using the gym. The reason you go to the gym in the first place is to get in shape.
There is no perfect church out there. The preacher Kenneth Chin said, “You will never find a perfect Church, if you do, leave it alone. If you join it, it will no longer be perfect”. This saying is so true because once an imperfect person joins a perfect church, they will observe things they dislike or disapprove of, criticise and most likely cause disagreements and discord, making the perfect church imperfect.
God is perfect; we are not. By focusing too much on ourselves, we are soon bound to be disappointed when we notice or see what we don’t like. We all have our own biases or prejudices because we’re human.
If you have been hurt by the church, don’t disconnect from God because He is the Shepherd of your soul. Although you have been hurt and have experienced negativity in the church, stay connected to Jesus because, through it all, He has never stopped loving you.
While I may not be quick to encourage anyone who’s been hurt to return to church, however, there are benefits to belonging to one. The most important thing is that you stay connected to Jesus because He loves you.
Stay blessed,
LaraLex
Hills and Valleys 