Have You Ever Been Hurt by the Church?

Have you ever been hurt by the church? “Church Hurt” is a term that I have heard many times, and I knew it was a thing, but it was not something I had experienced… until recently. You may follow me on social media, so you may have seen a post where I mentioned that my family was recently kicked out of our church. Now my husband says that I can’t say kicked out of the church anymore, that I have to say our family was asked to leave because that sounds a little less harsh. But it was a tough time for us! It was difficult, especially for my children and my teenagers who were in youth programs with their best friends. Some churches hurt people, so I want to share a story with you. 

I will share what happened, but first I need to tell you something. If you have been hurt by the church, there are a couple of things I want you to know. First and foremost, I want you to know that God is not the church. The church is supposed to be a representation of Him, but we fail. We fail because we are man, we sin, and we mess up sometimes. We judge people and we do things that we should not do. You cannot let your opinion of the church change your opinion of the Father in Heaven. Number two, the people that asked us to leave are not bad people. I am not going to tell you who they are, the name of the church, or even the denomination because they are not bad people. They are wonderful people who love the Lord and are trying to serve God, but what happened is that they have taken God, put Him in a box, and have tried to serve Him with their legalism and tradition. That just did not work for us. I pray for them almost every single day and they deserve grace just like I deserve grace and you deserve grace. 

I was unsure whether I would share this story, but I have spent many days in prayer and fasting and felt the Lord tell me now is the time. He’s ready for the world to hear a message. I am not going to go over the entire story, but I want to share with you a particular conversation I had with a leader at this church. This conversation is one of the things that led them to their decision that we were not a good fit for their congregation. This conversation dealt with salvation and how one comes to salvation and how one brings someone to salvation. You may have an opinion on it and that is wonderful! This particular pastor’s opinion was basically that people have to be condemned and convinced of what a terrible sinner they are so they know they need to repent so that they can ask Jesus for forgiveness to stop sinning and become saved. Maybe that is a narrative you have heard before.  I’m not going to say that it doesn’t work for some people. Some people are convicted by their sin, and this opens their eyes to their need for salvation. I told the leader what I believe is a better approach, which is what he disagreed with.

God loves you. The Bible tells us that God is love and God loves you whether you are what the church calls saved or not saved. He loves you and He desires you because the Bible tells us that He does not want anyone to perish. The problem is you are not holy enough to meet His standard. We serve a God that is incredibly holy, perfect, and amazing, and not one person on this earth can stand up to His glory. Not one person on this earth could meet the expectations needed to even come into His presence. We all have sinned, we all fall short. He says I love you so much that I am going to make a way for you to come and spend time with me. I love you so much that I am going to send my Son to earth to die on the cross for your sins so that when you come to know me you can be covered with His blood and made righteous and be looked at as holy because I’ll see my son Jesus when I look at you. That is what salvation is. I believe that if you are not saved, that God wants you to know that he deeply loves you and He deeply desires for you to come into His presence. He wants you to seek Him

Here’s the thing…I am not going to sit here and convince you of your sin. I am not going to tell you that you’re doing something wrong, or that a particular sin is “extra” wrong. I am not going to do that because it is not about our actions. The Old Testament says it was about the law, but the New Testament says it is about our heart. Jesus fulfilled the law and what He wants from you is not a perfect sinless life. He wants your heart. Your actions before following God are irrelevant. When the Bible says to repent, it does not mean to stop sinning and never sin again. Repent means to go a different way, to turn and go in a different direction. So, you were going one way and you were sinning and you were living your own life and now you’re going this way and you’re going to try to follow God. All He wants from you is to say “God, I am lost, and I am broken, and I don’t know what I’m doing in this world, but here is my heart. Lead me, guide me, and show me what you want from me”. He has a plan for your life because you are loved, you are precious, and you are chosen. He wants you to be in a relationship with Him, but He needs your heart. It is that simple. You need to know what a great God we serve. You need to know that He loves you. God is love and the answer is love and this is something that not everyone agrees with. He loves you so much and He wants you to repent, which means stop going that way and start going His way and give Him your heart because that is what it is all about! As you give Him your heart, He will start molding you. He will start shaping you and turning you into the person He wants you to be. You do not have to try not to sin anymore, you just have to love Him, trust Him and follow Him and He will guide you down this path. He will shape you, mold you, and turn you into this beautiful life-filled being that He cherishes. 

I need the world to know that if you are not saved, the Lord does not dislike you! He will do anything for you, except touch your free will. He says you have a choice. He sent His son to die for you. He will do anything for you but will not stop your free will – so if you choose not to give Him your heart then you are destined to a life and eternity in Hell.  Plus, I can promise you, that life on this earth is not the same without God in it. Give Him your heart.  If you have never done that, I am going to ask you right now to say these words: God I know that you love me and I know that I cannot stand up to your level of holiness, that I can never be good enough for you, but here is my heart. I just want to try to follow you. If you speak these words and feel them in your heart, I promise you He is going to take you on a path that is glorious, amazing, and will last for all of eternity. If that is the first time you heard that, I hope you said those words out loud. 

If it’s not the first time that you heard that and you know this already, but just feel overwhelmed and are worrying about everything you need to do or berating yourself because you need to stop sinning, then I need you to know that God says just give me your heart, seek me and I will show you the path.  Pray, read His word, and spend time in His presence. That is what he wants from you. Not your actions. 

Now go let your light shine!