Church Hurt: Offense, Abuse, Neglect
I was reading in the gospel of Luke a few days ago and thought to write this down. It’s on the topic of church hurt. The term is legitimate I believe, but it has been stripped and belittled to mean any little thing that could offend or upset someone who attends church or identifies as a believer. That’s not church hurt, that’s life. I wrote this:
Church Hurt: Offense, Abuse, Neglect
The verses I read are Luke 6:27-28:
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”
-Luke 6:27-28 (ESV)
Offense: I think this word came to my mind and my spirit because there are individuals who, the moment they get offended, begin to find any and all problems they have and correlate them back to the Church and the people within the local church they find themselves a part of. Ultimately, being constantly offended allows that offense to become a bitter root which drives an individual to leave the church and try to be a Christian alone. This doesn’t work well because all Christians are part of Jesus’ Church, and the saints can’t do the work of the ministry apart from the church. TLDR: don’t live as an offended Christian that cries church hurt every time you don’t get your way.
Abuse: This is where we get into the realm of real church hurt. Predators disguised as pastors. Manipulation. Sexual abuse or scandal. I’ve seen it. It’s been too close to me to not address it with precision. Emotional, physical, and spiritual abuse are real. Spiritual leaders have a responsibility to address this and be on guard for behaviors that even have a hint of this mess. Protect children. Protect women who are often targeted by sick people who aim to manipulate. And in the aftermath of abuse, how do we respond? The antithesis of any and all what the world says. Grace. Forgiveness. PRAYER. How repentant would we see abusers and how freeing would it be for the abused if we prayed? If forgiveness was actually forgiveness and not allowance. God is just, and I would rather Him handle an abuser than me attempt to be judge, jury, and executioner (which a court of law may handle that on those side of Heaven). My job as a spiritual leader and one who professes Christianity is to hold my leaders and my peers accountable. That means that I won’t be quiet about abuse, but I also won’t shame a person beyond the sin that’s already shamed them. I refuse to carry offense over someone’s fallen behavior. What I will do is hold them accountable, the systems around them accountable and pray a lot.
Neglect: The church needs to be the hands and feet of Jesus. If people are walking around saying they’re hurt, why don’t we check in with them? And if we have, why don’t we be persistent with them until they can change their tune? Church hurt is an echo chamber; however, if individuals with right perspective spoke truth to the nonsense, it may pierce the constant droning that is the offense of individuals mouthing off about Christ’s bride.
Anyway, I just thought to decompress some of my thoughts here. The Church needs prayer, people need prayer. People need forgiveness. People need revelation. Forgiveness is near when we are near to God. He is faithful and is no stranger to abuse and harm, we’re about to begin passion week. His body was broken, he was spit on, stripped of his clothing and all dignity. He is familiar with being hurt by people. Yet Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them.” Where would we be if we modeled that example when we experienced similar things?
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