I recently received an e-mail from a man who said that he
was given the cold-shoulder when he visited a church. I immediately related to
his situation, because I have also been mistreated by several pastors
throughout my life. Here is my response to Daniel:
I once heard Pastor Charles Lawson ask in a sermon, "Have you ever visited to a church where you felt like they didn't care if you were there or not?" Yes, that is exactly how I have felt at some churches. I read this week that 150,000 people leave church each week in the U.S. ...
I honestly can't blame them. Pastors aren't preaching the truth today, and people know it. People are dying for someone that is real, a man who preaches the truth without apology, and loves people unconditionally. Without love, the truth means nothing to people. A preacher must be balanced between love and truth. I don't know anybody who excels in love without truth, for no one truly loves others who withholds the truth from them.
I am sorry for the way preachers have mistreated you. I have learned to keep my eyes on the Lord, for only He alone is perfect. When I start to look at people, I often get disenchanted with their lack of kindness, unloving spirit and lack of concern. And sad to say, religious people oftentimes are the worst offenders! That's the hardest thing for me, to love unloving Christians, who have the Holy Spirit of God living hidden somewhere inside them. They are carnally-minded. I hate playing church and refuse to do it. If a church is not real, I'd rather stay home and make better use of my time. I have been freely passing out Alexander Scourby DVD's and MP3 to people at church, which is a side-ministry for me. I have also been giving out Michael P. Bowen's awesome book titled, "I Never Knew You" to others. I choose not to complain or become bitter; but rather, to be a part of the solution, to help others, to do what I can to strengthen a struggling church. But when the pastors refuse to do so, I must take a stand and expose them as heretics, for the sake of the innocent!God hates when anyone sows discord in a church. God will judge every pastor, holding him accountable for every word he DIDN'T say from the pulpit. I have been horribly mistreated over the years by pastors. I've been kicked out twice from different churches over the King James Bible, told not to come back three times, shunned away, ostracized by my neighbors (because their pastors turned them against me), given the cold treatment, lied about, spiritually neglected, set at nought, maligned, gossiped about, despised, abandoned, left to spiritually die without a friend in the world to care about me, in the darkest hours of my life between 2009-2014. I had no man to care for my soul. It was a fate worse than death, yet God saw me through. What others meant for evil, God meant for good. God Who raises the dead, raised me up....
2nd Corinthians 1:8-10, "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us."
God will never abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 13:15). The condition of the churches in America today is sickening. Christianity began as a new birth in Jesus Christ. In Greece, it became a philosophy. In Rome, Christianity became a religion. When it spread throughout Europe, it became a culture. But when Christianity came to America, it became a shady business!
You'll never find a perfect church, nor a perfect pastor. People are people, and we're all sinners. I have found that the pastor greatly determines the spirit in the church, by his preaching topics and spirit. If a pastor doesn't teach his people how to love each other, they will bicker, gossip and fight like cats and dogs. The pastor is the problem most of the time! That's why I love Pastor Jeff Owens! He teaches his people well. Brother Owens has a forgiving, kind and loving spirit; but he also has an intolerance for sin in the church, and he faithfully preaches against it. Sad to say, some pastors preach hatred instead, and do a lot of gossiping themselves, influencing the church congregation to do the same. Everything rises and falls on leadership!
I encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus, Who will never hurt you or let you down! We serve a wonderful Savior!!! Pray for those who hurt you. Perhaps do a kind deed toward someone who has hurt your feelings. I think in many cases the offender didn't intend to hurt another person, and may not even be aware of it. I am sensitive with my feelings, and I admit it, which gets me into trouble sometimes, because I tend to expect others to be as friendly, loving and kind as I am (they are not). When they don't treat me kindly, I get my heart hurt. So what's the answer? If we look at others, we will always get hurt and discouraged. If we look at our self, we will feel inferior and inadequate. But if we LOOK TO THE LORD, He'll never let us down. “I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).
What we all need to do is walk close to God. The Word of God (King James Bible) is our only authority in all matters of faith, doctrine and life. It matters not what the daily manure-spreading newspaper says. It matters not what our family thinks. It matters not what some pipsqueak pastor, who doesn't even care if there is heresy in his church's tracts, thinks! God's opinion is the only opinion that matters! So we must “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES” (John 5:39), so we'll know what God thinks!
Also, most believers don't pray about anything, let alone “everything” as we are commanded to do in Philippians 4:6. All of our failures as Christians are prayer failures! Psalms 119:165, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” This verse means that nothing can cause us to spiritually stumble if we stay in the Word. It doesn't mean that people won't upset us, but we have a choice of what things we choose to be offended over. Always remember that behind every pulpit is a human being. Pastors are still sinners. I love anyone who proclaims THE TRUTH! I don't look at the faults of a preacher, I look at what he is saying and doing for the Lord! I look at his ministry, to see if there is soul-winning. The average Baptist church doesn't go soul-winning at all, and 90% of the one's that do, only go for an hour or two on Saturday. Is it any wonder why the church's attendance never grows above 30-40 members?
In my opinion there is nothing worse than a missionary pastor, who receives a paycheck from missionary board. Whether he produces or not, he still gets paid. A church ought to go soul-winning several times a week as a church. If the pastor is lazy, so will the congregation be lazy. People need to be motivated by a strong leader. Pastors are lazy rascals! I could go one and on. We need a whole new breed of preachers in the world today!!! You'll hardly hear a word about the necessity of the power of the Holy Spirit today. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish NOTHING for God (John 15:5). Sinners and unsaved people are looking for excuses not to come to church, and a lukewarm Christian is that excuse!!!
My best advice to you is to take the GOOD and leave the BAD. As Dr. Jack Hyles used to say, “Every man is my teacher!” Even the alcoholic lying in the gutter teaches me by perceived knowledge to avoid booze! We obtain acquired knowledge through books. We obtain experiential knowledge from our own mistakes. And we obtain perceived knowledge from watching others. Since we cannot find a perfect church, we ought to find the best one we can and make the best of it. Pastors are only people, and they will mistreat us sometimes (which they ought not do), but they are susceptible to frustration, getting upset when they shouldn't, and using poor judgment (just as we all are).
I refuse to be a part of this generation of critics, always looking for imperfection in everything to complain about. Our American culture is a critical culture, largely due to the ungodly newsmedia, who are wicked manure-spreaders! I choose to praise, not criticize! I want to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Worry and criticism are the Devil's tools. Dr. Hyles is right, who says, “No one can withstand the attack of a critic!” I am not a critic! I refuse to live like that. Some people are in a state of being a critic, negative about everything all the time. What a miserable way to exist! That is NOT the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).
I can control what I do, but I cannot control what others do. I get mistreated by people all the time, by unbelievers and believers alike. Sad to say, religious people are some of the worst people I've ever met. I've been horribly mistreated by fellow Baptist pastors and professed Christians, who shamefully behave no better than ungodly heathens. I choose to keep my eyes on Jesus, and to forgive and love everyone. I choose to “LET GO, LET GOD,” so I can focus on soul-winning, praising the Lord, and look forward to Heaven. Pastor Danny Castle wisely says, “If you're really saved, and you live right and trust Him, He'll see you through! The Lord will take care of you!” (a precious quote from Brother Danny's sermon called, “The Sin Most Christians Commit”). We still have a heavenly Father in Heaven that we can trust! HAVE FAITH IN GOD!!!
