Yet He, answering them, said to them that "Ideally prophesies Isaiah concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, that this people with their lips is honoring Me, yet their heart is away at a distance from Me. Yet in vain are they revering Me, teaching for teachings the directions of men. For, leaving the precept of God, you are holding the tradition of men of the baptism of ewers and cups. And many such like things you are doing." And He said to them, "Ideally you are repudiating the precept of God, that you should be keeping your tradition."
Mark 7: 6-9, Concordant New Testament
I was talking to a friend this week about God and religious things when he suddenly shared with me that he had left his previous church due to being hurt by the pastor. Apparently the pulpit pounder did not approve of the woman he was marrying and expressed doubts about whether he could perform the ceremony for him. This, of course, was a hurt felt deeply by my friend and his future wife, and they decided to walk away from the church. For her part, his wife is a believer, although a bit rambunctious at times. Whether or not this had anything to do with the pastors actions I do not know. What I do know is that in a setting where the love of the Lord is meant to be a shelter in the storms of life, it seems that one man refused to exhibit the love of God. For much of our history, the church has been seen as a refuge from all which is wrong with the world. Political refugees has often found shelter within the walls of the church. It is a place where all are welcome in the Lord. Sounds good right? Except that this is not the case with all churches. In my lifetime I have been witness to the fall of many great Christian pastors who chose to follow their flesh instead of upholding the ideals of the Lord. Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart immediately come to mind. The philandering of Swaggert played out in the nations media, who were all too eager to showcase the downfall of another Christian leader. Yet that is beside the point. I have no doubt that there are hundreds if not thousands of believers out there who have abandoned their church and, quite possibly, their own faith as a result of being wounded by those in the church. I myself was hurt by a associate pastor at the church I used to attend. While I did not end up leaving said church, the experience definitely opened up old wounds I had continued to carry with me. Should the church be a place where we should be on guard from such things? In a perfect world, no. However, as most believers are aware, we live in a fallen and not a perfect world. Whenever man is involved, all bets are off the table. I do not care how strong of a believer you are, one is always at risk of being influenced by the flesh. When that happens, it is no longer the Lords lead we're following.
If being hurt by the church causes you to lose faith in God, then your faith was in people and not God.
Unknown
The scriptures tell us who are trust is to be in {Psalm 118:7, Proverbs 3:5}. Make no mistake, the Fathers desire is that we place all of our worries, cares and desires upon Him {Matthew 11:28}. Those in the church may help us with releasing our worries unto the Lord, but our faith and trust was never meant to be placed upon man. Man can differ. Man can change his mind with the prevailing winds of the day. Yet it is Christ Jesus who is the same today and forever {Hebrews 13:8}. This is a lesson I learned too late to avoid being hurt by someone in authority within the church. For anyone who has ever suffered the same wounds as I have I would pose one question. Where is it that you place your faith? Is your faith and trust in He who never changes? Or, is your faith in the soft spoken leader behind that pulpit? I know where I stand...do you? Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way advocating for a mass exodus from the church because all pastors are not worthy of our trust. What I am saying is that we are to be very mindful of who we place our faith in. It is Jesus who welcomes us unto Him, that we will place our burdens upon Him. There are NO skeletons in the closets of the Lord. What we will find in the Father is His redeeming love and grace. There is no pulpit pounder in the world who can make that promise. I welcome all to place their faith in He whose very nature is love {1 John 4:8}. We can never go wrong with that.
And we know and believe the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who is remaining in love is remaining in God, and God is remaining in him.
1 John 4: 16, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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