Church Hurt

***The author is know, but since the writing was deleted from their Facebook profile I’m going to say it’s anonymous unless he / she chooses to add their name.****

“You don’t know what I’ve gone through till you walk a mile in my shoes”. We have all heard this line a time or two. Many of us have used it to justify our positions on issues or situations. Woke up this morning after reading about so many believers stating, oh I’ll never walk into a church building again because I’ve been hurt. I get that, I’ve seen that, I’ve been apart of that. Allow me a moment.

I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my walk with Christ. I’ve never really hid the fact that I’ve been on the highest of mountains and been in the lowest of valleys. Over the last few years I’ve seen a lot of growth, I’ve been through a lot of conviction, and I can say that it’s not been easy. I’ve caused a lot of pain to those who have been placed in my life when all they were trying to do is help me heal. 

So, the next time you make the statement, “I’ll never walk into another church because I’ve been hurt,” remember those that you blame for your hurt are often the most hurt people in that building. The pastors or leaders you blame for your feelings get their feelings hurt too and they still wake up everyday praying for you, loving you, and trying to help you achieve everything God has for you. I’ve had to recognize and accept the fact that I’ve added to that hurt and I have also apologized for adding to their hurt. 

God didn’t give up on them and He never gave up on you! I don’t know if this helps anyone, but it’s just something I wanted to say.  Forgive one another and let the healing start before it’s too late.

~Anonymous ~

A few years ago as I was dealing with this very issue my heart strings felt as they were tearing and my blood pressure was in agreement over the pain and hurt I endured at a particular church. As I began to seek a new place of worship I had an opportunity to have a one on one with the pastor. He said the following: I hate when people use that excuse not to come to church. You get hurt having sex but people don’t stop doing that and you get hurt dating but you don’t stop that. This was/is good, really good advice. 

To quote the anonymous author above, “God didn’t give up on them and He never gave up on you! I don’t know if this helps anyone, but it’s just something I wanted to say.  Forgive one another and let the healing start before it’s too late.” The church are the people, hurting people, people just beginning their walk with Jesus Christ, not the building. 

There’s a seat for hurting people, happy people, and all people waiting for you at The Mercy Table.