CHURCH HURT
Church hurt is often a source of neglect in our relationship with God. Misplacing our hurt within the relationship we have built with him, we often feel as though he has hurt or attacked us, when in reality it's the community within our church family. Many times people forget church is truly a family. Church is supposed to be a place in which you find solitude around people who understand you, but sometimes we lose sight of that.
If this has ever happened to you, you are not alone. Like many others, you have experienced what is commonly referred to as “Church Hurt”. Whether that be judgment based upon a life experience, such as teenage pregnancy, sex before marriage, or even telling a trusted church member about your life at home that doesn’t equate to “christian standards,” some of us have truly had to deal with feeling as though God has hurt us, when it's his people who have hurt us, based upon their own perception of the way life should be lived. During these experiences where we’ve felt we were judged, we begin to shy away from the house of the Lord and building our relationship with him. We feel isolated. We feel alone. We may even label God as the one who placed them here to judge us, so we stray away from the only one that is walking with us every step of the way, God! The one who has made a way out of no way, before we were ever on this Earth.
What if I told you that God is not the one judging you? He sent his only son, Jesus Christ, here as a man on Earth to sacrifice his life for us so that in return, our daily mistakes would be forgiven, he would watch us grow, and he’d be proud of our change. The world we live in is a misguided place, and even though we expect for those in church to understand us, they are only human too. So when they cast judgment upon us, sometimes it is just by their fleshly nature they display this behavior, based on their own life experiences and worldly wisdom.
As believers, we can begin to make change within our communities to help those after us have a better experience in church, or to feel more understood, because it's not our job to be God. It is our job to lead in his image through how we treat others. I believe, if more people strived to love like Christ, we’d all have more grace toward one another and the battle against church hurt would no longer reign. It would open the door for current and new believers to better their relationship with God, and feel secure when visiting the house of the Lord. So, as a believer, if you’ve ever been “Church Hurt,” take a step back and look to the source for answers on bettering your relationship with him and how you can become closer to him. Don’t allow life experiences like church hurt draw you away from building community in your faith. We are not meant to do this alone. Start with baby steps, reevaluate your relationship with the Lord, and when it’s all said and done, love others in a way that helps everyone heal.
