Wounded by the Church
The church is supposed to be a safe haven of rest from the cares of this life. The Pastor used to be the one you called and counselled with when life became overbearing. The love and support of the saints welcomed you into a spirit of praise and worship, allowing you to reach upward to a God who came down in waves of peace and understanding. The pastor’s door was always open, inviting you in to seek wisdom and advice on how to handle the difficulties life was throwing your way.
My pastor was a gentle soul with a true shepherd’s heart. He was always available to listen and say a kind word, as he offered prayer to God on your behalf. You could feel the peace and love of God flow from his heart into yours as he quoted a scripture applicable to your situation. You could feel the sincerity of his heart as he prayed with you. You trusted him with your cares and concerns, knowing he was worthy of your trust.
I expected this to be the norm among all God’s pastors and ministers. I soon realized what Jesus meant when he taught us not to throw our pearls before swine. Is that too harsh? Jesus is saying not to trust everyone with what is sacred and precious to our hearts. There are those who will respect your sincere cry for help as a pig will treat a pearl of great price thrown into its pen.
I soon found, in my travels as a minister of the Gospel, that different things motivate different pastors. Money and authority compete with the desire for fame among pastors, just like they do in the secular world of business and politics. You had to be very careful about fellowshiping with certain ministers, lest you gained a reputation like theirs.
Many people have come and gone through the doors of churches down through the years of time, for many different reasons. The pastor and the church will say that they were the seed that fell by the wayside, or on the rocks, or among the thorns; they were just not good seed. They will even quote scripture; “These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.” (I John 2:19)
The truth is that many leave the church because they have been hurt by the church or the pastor or the organization. Not all leave because they are the wrong kind of seed, or because they were never really part of the church. Not all leave because they do not want to hear that their sin is displeasing to God.
If people get hurt, it is because they have invested in that church, pastor or organization emotionally. Only emotionally involved people in a relationship are able to get hurt.
If a stranger says something nasty and mean to me, I can brush it off in a few minutes; but if a friend or a relative says the same thing to me, I get hurt and hang onto that hurt for some time. I am not emotionally involved with the stranger, but I am emotionally involved with the friend or relative.
Jesus understood this when He said that a broken reed He would not break and a smoking flax He would not quench. The prophet foretold that Jesus would heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free. (Matthew 12:20 & Isaiah 61:1)
A reed that is broken is not doomed for destruction, but can be repaired. The broken reed is a symbol of the poor and oppressed soul that others seem to take delight in stepping on and keeping down until they completely die. Jesus promised that He would never do that to a hurting soul. He demonstrated this to many that the Pharisees had rejected and thrown out of the temple, saying, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
Flax was used as a wick in a lamp of oil. If it was smoking, then it was about to go out. It was smoking and about to go out because the lamp was low on oil, or the winds of life had blown the flame out. Jesus promised that He would not take His fingers and squeeze the spark out completely. He would supply the fire of the Holy Spirit to reignite it, on the condition that we came to the source of the oil. The wise virgins awaiting the bridegroom made sure they had extra oil for their lamps.
Jesus also came to set the captive free, captives to sin, and captives to hurt, bruised and broken hearts caused by those who should be ministering the healing, instead of dishing out the hurt and pain.
There will always be those who allow the desire for money to measure whether or not their members are truly Christian or not. There will always be those who allow power to decide if their members are submissive to their list of do’s and don’ts to be a Christian. There will always be those who allow fame to decide if their members give them enough adulations to be a member of their church or not. There will always be Pharisees kicking people out of God’s house.
Jesus is not bound to a pastor, or to a group of saints, or to a local church, or to a specific organization. The Word of God cannot be bound, because Jesus Christ is the Living Word and He is able to abide in your heart even when the Pharisees say that you are just an old broken reed or that your flame for God has gone out.
Jesus is not into breaking the broken. He is not into snuffing out the little spark that is still smoldering. He is not into keeping the captive gauged. He has come to mend and relight your desire for God in a liberty that no man can enslave. He just asks for your cry for His help and for your obedience to His Word.
“This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)
If your pastor, church or organization lets you down, God will never forsake you as long as you seek Him above man’s help, and as long as you are willing to be obedient to His teachings for your life as He reveals them to you. Allow Him to judge those who hurt you and then allow Him to develop His character in your life. Invest your emotions in a personal relationship with Him above all others. When He returns, He will come for you because you have chosen to overcome the hurt and confusion and have allowed Him to dwell in your heart as His temple.