Leaving The Church: A Hurt Perspective

Church should be the one place where you find love, encouragement & support. You would think that's the case (which it is for the most part) but some people end up permanently leaving the church due to an offense from a member. What the offense is remains to be seen but for one reason or another, people are leaving the church in droves. I find this sad because although church is for the flawed (Christians are not perfect, contrary to what the world will have you believe), Christians should be held to a higher standard and rightfully so. I couldn't live with myself knowing I was the cause of someone leaving the church. If I'm wrong, I'm man enough to admit it and keep moving. My heart goes out to everyone who left the church on bad terms due to a horrible childhood tragedy or some other offense. With all the hurting people in this world, church is to be the one place they can come to for emotional healing. One of my mom's closest friends has been out of church for years due to a fellow Christian saying something so hurtful she up and left. She still loves God but she doesn't feel a need to go to church because in her mind, she and God get along just fine. My mom continually tells her to get back in the church but she refuses to listen. I do believe if you have a relationship with God and you read the Word, pray and live accordingly to the best of your ability, then you have no use for the church. You can do independent Bible study, which is what many Christians that are no longer in the church do because they still want to remain close to God. We've all been hurt, are hurting now or will be hurt and church is no exemption. When you have baggage, you will unfairly take it out on the next person. You don't mean to but when you feel like the weight of the world is on you, you do whatever necessary to remove that weight and if it means unintentionally hurting someone, so be it. Who knows how many people could have came to God if they weren't hurt by someone in the church? Now that they've left, it's unknown. I hope everyone who has been hurt is able to heal and return to the church, realizing that church people are flawed just like everyone else.