Firstly, I am so sorry if this has been your experience. It is a sad reality that church hurt is one of the most common objections to Christianity. If you (or a loved one) have witnessed or experienced hypocrisy, unkindness, abuse, betrayal, fraud, or humiliation at the hands of church-goers, I am so sorry. That should not have happened. Church is meant to be a safe place where people are loved and accepted, and if your experience was different, I can understand that must have been deeply disappointing and discouraging, especially if it happened more than once.
One of the fundamental truths of the Christian faith is that all people are broken and deeply flawed. Jesus once said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). Jesus came for messed-up, broken people. He is the friend of sinners. And when sinners come to faith in Christ and receive forgiveness, it doesn’t put a stop to their potential to sin.
This may come as a surprise to people who have the impression that Christianity is for perfect people. It’s not. The Church is a bunch of misfits. Sometimes even Christians fall into the trap of thinking they need to make themselves out to be perfect when they’re not. Jesus is not pleased with hypocrisy. And if any Christian has ever claimed moral superiority over you, they were mistaken.
But if you stick around and get to know us over the long-term, we hope you’ll see the transformation that Jesus is working in each of us who have trusted in Him for forgiveness. This side of heaven, we will never achieve the standard of moral perfection set by our Saviour, Jesus. But we’re not who we once were. He is making all things new.
If you have fallen out with a church due to a negative experience, it is worth considering whether those encounters were with one or two people or with the whole church. Were there other people in the church, besides those who hurt you, who loved you, encouraged you and prayed for you? Are you willing to hold the whole church in condemnation, and in the process, cut yourself off from other precious relationships, when in fact, your bitterness might be misplaced? The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ brings reconciliation and healing and builds community in ways that you might never have imagined possible.
Lastly, if you were hurt by someone who claimed to be a Christian in a way that constitutes abuse, please know that the Lord Jesus stands defiantly against abuse in all its forms. Know that justice will be done and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Please do contact our church office if you would like to speak to a member of the pastoral team about your experience.
