Where Do You Go When You Hurt?

Many think the church is a group of good people who have all got their act together or who at least try very hard to give that impression. I remember once talking with a sister in the church who was very upset with the bad behavior of one of the other members. After a while it occurred to me that her vision of the church was a little skewed. So I said to her, “The church is full of sinners”. She replied in almost an indignant tone. “Well, I’m just starting to figure that out!”.

To many, church is where you put on your best face. You put on those masks we have and we make out to everyone that we are “fine”. We don’t want to appear to be weak or troubled or struggling with a sin. Where did we get such a distorted view of Christ’s church? I don’t know, but it certainly is not the Bible.

God says, “all have sinned” Rom 3:23. The only difference between Christians and those outside of Christ is that the Christian’s sins have been forgiven and even that wasn’t because we deserved it or paid for it. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:5.

The church is like a hospital. It is full of sick people who are getting better but they don’t do themselves any favors by pretending that they are not sick. Look at the founding members of the Corinthian church (1 Cor 6:9-11). We are all sinners. We are not bragging about it or falling into an irresponsible view of sin (Romans 6:1). But each one of us has our struggles and the church is here so we can struggle together. God says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Gal 6:2. Did you catch that? How do we fulfill the law of Christ? Of all the things that the Holy Spirit could have chosen (teach the truth, worship correctly, evangelize the world etc.) He chose our care for each other. That should tell us something? But, how do we do this?

Here are two things that I believe will help.
1. Stop hiding your sin and confess it to a brother or sister and get them to help you. I know that sounds radical for today’s church but it was normal behavior in the first century church (James 5:16, 1 John 1:9).
2. Share your struggles and get people praying for you (1 Thess 5:25, Rom 15:30, Eph 6:19-20). If it was good enough for Paul, it is good enough for us.

So, where do you go when you hurt? You go to church. The church is family. And we are getting better at doing that. We are changing from an institution into a family and we can help. It is such a tragedy when people who are hurting think that church is the last place they should. This isn’t a country club. It is a hospital in a war zone and it needs to become a safe place of healing. That’s God’s plan for his church. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Cor 12:26.
Reach out today and help someone who is suffering.