Disillusioned

Good Morning, 

I have heard people say they were disillusioned with church. I find it interesting how many other things people are not disillusioned with that are just as frail and often disappointing.  Whining about being “disillusioned” is due to two basic mistakes we make. 

The first mistake we make is that we do no realize:

1. How wonderful the church is.  The church is so awesome that God bought it with His own blood.  It is the church that is responsible for most people getting saved and to Heaven.  It is the church that has kept spiritual truth alive. The church set the foundation of America. The church is the place missionaries are called, marriages and funerals are conducted, broken life’s are mended, and countless other good things – but most importantly, God loves it!   If God loves the church, I may be frustrated by some of the sinners within it, but God knows best. I chose to love the church!

Regarding being disillusioned, the second mistake on our part is that we forget:

2. How woefully sinful mankind is. 

Man is so bad that the Son of God was the only One capable of paying their debt. Man is so bad it required the torture of God’s Son to pay for our redemption.

Satan wishes folks to become dissolution with the church: he hates it. The church is his arch rival because it is the entity responsible for souls being saved, for the truth being preached, and for God being glorified.  

If folks stop attending church, all those things will cease. 

Consider how many times folks have been disappointed by those around them. Dads or moms have allowed drugs, booze, job and moral shame to ruin their potential as a good husband and father or mother and wife.  So what do all those kids do, commit suicide?  Give up on life and sit around useless?  No, they went on, cried, and though the road was harder, they continued to do what they thought best.  Most did not give up on the family or the marriage.

How many business partners have wronged their partners and stole money or clients or the entire business.  What happened next was sorrow, shock, and self-examination. Those who were wronged went on with life.  They did not give up on the business world; often, they went right back in; and in some cases, they were better for their hurt. Though hurt, people are not dissolution with business or family, they get hurt but go on.

Spiritually, we can address other areas in life the same way.  The Bible commands us to tell the world how to get saved.  The Bible also commands us to go to church, to read our Bible, to pray, to forgive, to serve, to teach the Bible to others, as well as countless other lessons on money, marriage, children, and our relationship to others.   When we are hurt or disappointed, do we simply those out those lessons? Do we ignore the eternal jobs God designed us to accomplish because someone disappointed us?  (Tell that to Joseph as his brothers sold him into slavery.) 

Can I make this personal for a moment? After four decades of pastoring, how many people do you think have disappointed me? How many people did I invest countless hours, countless dollars, and incredible amounts of love and attention into, only to see them disappear, or worse yet, attack and slander me.

If I were to quit because people disappointed me, I would have quit my first year. To some extent, I understand how precious the church is and how sinful people are; and for those two reasons, I stay true to my Bible, my church, my God, and my spiritual heritage. 

When the thought, “Someone let me down,” crosses my mind, I wonder what I was expecting? Was I expecting no one to ever let me down, or no one to turn and walk away?  Have I read my Bible all these years and not seen how Saul, as the leader, tried to destroy his loyal follower David?  Have I spent the decades reading the Scriptures and not noticed that Jesus had a Judas? Did I also fail to see that the disciples accepted the reality of Judas’ sin, and they went right on about their business preaching the Gospel and starting churches all over the world? 

I may go on with a sick stomach, but by God’s grace, I will stay faithful to a soul-winning Baptist church.  I may weep often during my day, but I will still read my Bible, pray, and as God allows, teach the Bible to a group of adults or children.  Someone hurting me does not lessen the temperature in Hell.  Someone doing me wrong does not make Heaven any less wonderful; I still want to help people get there.  Because someone walked out on me, does not justify me walking out on others. I will still sing in the choir, play in the orchestra, work in a ministry, or drive the Sunday school bus. When someone sins, the value of my visitation to a jail or rest home does not decline; bringing the Gospel to those who cannot get to church is priceless. 

My parents split up, and we lived the “single mother” life for some time.  Then there was an addition of a step-dad.  Okay, now what? Should I have changed my life goals? Of course not; I knew I still wanted to be married, have a family, and enjoy life. I did not toss out family dreams because sometimes things did not work. 

I cannot judge a heart, but those who become disillusioned are probably hurt, thinking entirely of themselves, and have an unbiblical view of man and church.  If we get those two right (the biblical view of man and church), we can go on.  Whether we are weeping, hurt, or wounded, truth and right should be our guide. I would like to assure you that I know many who have done this very thing, and enjoyed life and Christian service.  God can heal you and help you get back on the biblical road of Christian victorious living. 

Pastor