There’s no easy way to say this but God’s church is hurting. The one He came to die for is in agonizing pain. What do I mean?
Have you taken a look around lately? Have you spoken to someone who used to believe? Or someone who was a regular church goer?
Today, I had a conversation with an acquaintance. My heart felt a whole lot of pain. He spoke about how growing up, the Church he’d go to would want that they feel ashamed and guilty. With heads down, they’d go through the service.
The priests/pastors he said were put in such a revered position, they’d milk money out of the situation. After saying all of these, I began to explain that this isn’t God’s intention for the church.
Can you imagine anyone after going through such an experience warming up to the true idea of Church?
The danger of getting it wrong
Recently I began to say this: Getting it wrong will sacrifice a lot of people. What does it mean?
If one or the church gets the Gospel wrong, they are at risk of sacrificing innocent people on the altar of misunderstanding. But this is why you and I must strive to get it right.
Getting the Gospel right with an understanding of what God wants for the church will spare us all of the hurt the church may have caused.
While visiting, my friend’s brother would tell me of how it’s a norm to go to church. But it’s not with choice. Many people now dread church or have become atheists because of forceful church attendance and many other things.
In the process of discussing something like this in Church, someone asked if one shouldn’t take his/her children to church but allow them decide if they would like to go. Just in case this comes to your mind, here’s the answer below.
Does it then mean you shouldn’t teach your child about the Gospel of Christ? Christianity is a religion of love. We love and we give room for growth. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 :
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
As your child grows, you need to explain why you believe in God. You need to let the child experience the love of God through you and they’ll choose Christ.
How can we help God’s hurting church
The first point is to pray. Pray that God will help us to right the wrongs and the damages the Church has caused. The church needs direction on how to go about this, also pray for divine direction.
To help God’s hurting church, you and I need to be the living testaments people read. We need to express the love of Christ and love people in the same we experience the love of Christ.
By doing this, they’ll really see what the Bible says in Romans 5:8 :
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
That’s all I wanted to share. If you’re reading this and you fall within the category of people the Church has hurt, I’d like to apologize on our behalf. I don’t know what it must have felt like but God wants you to know that His intention is to love you, not hurt you.
His heart is broken over the hurt you’ve been through. He’s willing to show you the love is still available. You can read more articles here about Jesus and God’s intention for the church.
Thank you for reading everyone! You can read the previous article here: Are you people pleasing at your own expense?
