WHY I LOVE CHURCH HURT AND YOU SHOULD TOO
I. SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 6:10–14; John 16:33
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. — Galatians 2:20
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven…” (Depositing spiritual interest into Heaven’s central bank account). – Matthew 5:11–12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God… — Ephesians 6:12–13a
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33
II. HISTORICAL-REDEMPTIVE ANALYSIS
Contextual Grounding: Ideally, every believer would impeccably align with Jesus’ second commandment to love our neighbors without variation. Falling short of that, friction occurs within the church body. Many become burdened down by church hurt, stopping in their tracks while Jesus keeps walking ahead toward Calvary.
Emotional & Theological Depth: Fallen nature dictates “you slug me, I slug you.” Dodging conflict and seeking comfortable, perpetual happy moods results in spiritual stagnation—saying “Jesus, you go ahead to Calvary, I’ll catch up.” Maturity recognizes that receiving church hurt is a divine test proving God knows we can handle it because He has bigger plans for us.
Application: When church hurt occurs, God leads us into the test to refine us, but Satan tempts us to wrestle with our brothers, harbor unforgiveness, or leave the church. Victory means remembering that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, relying on Emmanuel (God with us), extracting wisdom from every trial, and earning rewards in Heaven’s central bank account rather than succumbing to worldly revenge.
III. ZEB COMMENTARY
Let me start by saying that ideally we would all be experts on adhering to and aligning our lives and our hearts with the 2nd commandment of Jesus and we would impeccably and without variation demonstrate our love for our neighbors. Failing that, though, and we all do, there is something we can perhaps exercise some concern over.
Nobody wants to hurt, nobody wants their butt kicked—physically or spiritually. But none of us want to be spiritually dead or non-advancing in our walk with Jesus. There is Jesus walking with us—He keeps walking but we don’t follow because we are burdened down by our church hurt too much to walk with Him. A tragedy worthy of Shakespeare I say.
Let us say that we have some kind of church hurt situation going on. I love church hurt—receiving, not inflicting. It lets me know the Lord knows that I am a big boy and I can suck it up and that He has bigger plans for me. It wasn’t always that way but after many failed tests I finally understood it as a blessing. Do I have to remind myself of this? Of course I do. It doesn’t come naturally, it comes from maturity and maturity is always a process.
Our fallen nature is “you slug me? I slug you.” But… do we want to follow Jesus? Well remember that it is always a painful walk. And you say, “but I have an uncle who has been Christian since the turn of the previous century and he is always in a good place and a happy mood.” Let me say that either he is not following Jesus, just dragging his ancient butt into church every Sunday the same way that some people have seen Star Wars or Rocky Horror over and over again without changing spiritually. He is perhaps saying, “OK Jesus, you go ahead up to Calvary—I’ll catch up,” and adroitly for more than a century he is avoiding all conflict, dodging all growth opportunities, and going absolutely nowhere spiritually.
However, if we want to follow Jesus, if we want Him to know we are following Him and taking all the lashes and wearing the crown and following Galatians 2:20 to the nth degree, then we are of a mind where an occasional butt kicking is not something to avoid, but to embrace as a growth opportunity. But do we always get a slap in the face after doing something righteous or not, but feel the sting and respond to Jesus with gratitude for the growth opportunity? Do we always remember what Paul says in Ephesians 6:10–14 about who the ones we wrestle with are—not flesh and blood—or do we mix it up with our brethren because that hurt needs to go somewhere and justice must be done? (Yes it must be, but not by us).
So we get tested with church hurt. We are led by God into the test. Satan seeks to provoke us with various mechanics of spiritual warfare to struggle and wrestle with our brothers, maybe leave the church (God forbid!), maybe just harbor unforgivenesses while the test has us playing rope-a-dope. He tempts us to act towards our brothers in a way that makes matters worse, allowing him to drive a wedge and not making the situation at all better. The answer to all of this and to stop making the same mistake over and over, ruining the test God meticulously laid out for us and succumbing to the temptation that the evil one provided to take us down in our weakness, the answer is in the name Emmanuel! God with us!
We read Ephesians, we understand that the fundamental error was putting ourselves in a situation where our joy can be taken away, our contributions curtailed, controversy to exist, and we remember that it was and is God that we are there to worship, not our fellows. We are there to love them. AND JESUS NEVER SAID THAT THIS WOULD BE EASY.
So the question is, do we grow in the Lord earning rewards in Heaven’s central bank account for us, or do we keep falling for the temptation proving ourselves unworthy? The answer is simple. See God in all things, even trials and tribulations which Jesus did not say we might experience in the world—He said we absolutely will have troubles in the world, but to keep following Him for He had overcome the world. Jesus overcame the world. Not that we are Jesus, but the only way we move closer is to forsake instant gratification, forsake the treasures of this world as our rewards, forsake clamoring for approval and admiration and all these other worldly traps—Jesus overcame them. To the degree that we leave these things behind, accept and seek out the wisdom that can be extracted from every worldly challenge, and seek always the Kingdom, we move closer to being like Jesus. Otherwise we are pretentious hypocrites.
IV. CLASSIC COMMENTARY:
- “When your brethren wound or betray you, our fallen nature instantly cries out for vengeance, tempting us to return a slug for a slug. But the mature believer welcomes the lash of church hurt as a meticulous test from the Father, recognizing that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against malicious spiritual forces seeking to drive a wedge into the body of Christ.” — John Wesley
- “To drag an ancient butt into a church pew every Sunday for a century without experiencing spiritual conflict is a tragic sign of an unadvancing walk. True discipleship is a painful, narrow road; if we are truly crucified with Christ according to Galatians 2:20, we will not adroitly dodge the growth opportunities found in the sting of a brother’s offense, but embrace it with deep gratitude.” — Albert Barnes
- “Satan uses the mechanics of spiritual warfare to provoke us into harboring bitter unforgivenesses or abandoning the church entirely when we are wounded. He plays a ruthless game to steal our joy and curtail our contributions, but the name Emmanuel stands as our ultimate shield—proving that God is directly with us in the dirt of the trial.” — Adam Clarke
- “If we clamor for the shallow approval and constant admiration of our fellows, our faith remains nothing but the performance of pretentious hypocrites. Jesus did not promise a smooth path, but absolute trouble in this world; yet by forsaking instant gratification and looking completely beyond the veil, we extract divine wisdom from every worldly challenge.” — A.W. Tozer
- “When you are forced to lean back and endure the heavy, exhausting pressure of church drama, remember that it is the Lord we are there to worship, not our flawed companions. We must leave the execution of justice entirely to the Almighty, keeping our focus centered on the first commandment while the fires of testing refine our heavenly rewards.” — Charles Spurgeon
- “There is a profound, satisfying riddle in a man finding absolute joy and spiritual victory precisely when his circumstances are being kicked to pieces. The world looks at a wounded saint and sees nothing but defeat, but the eye of faith recognizes that the heavy blows of our adversaries are merely transforming our earthly cross into an eternal crown.” — G.K. Chesterton
V. CORROBORATING SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 2:20 — “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…” (The foundation for accepting lashes, crowns, and trials alongside Christ).
Ephesians 6:10–14 — “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” (Identifying the real adversary during internal church friction).
John 16:33 — “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Christ’s absolute guarantee of worldly trouble and His ultimate victory).
Romans 12:19 — “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Leaving justice strictly in God’s hands rather than slinging slaps back at brethren).
V. ESSENTIAL TAKEAWAYS
Embrace the Growth Opportunity: Receiving church hurt shows that God knows you are mature enough to handle the test, using it as a stepping stone to bigger kingdom plans.
Don’t Dodge Calvary: Avoiding all conflict and living in passive “happy moods” leads to spiritual death; true discipleship requires taking the lashes, wearing the crown, and living out Galatians 2:20.
Worship God, Love the Brethren: The fundamental error in church hurt is placing our joy in human approval. We assemble to worship God alone and to love our brothers, relying on Emmanuel to overcome every worldly trap.
VI. PRAYER FOR WHOMSOEVERS
Test us. Please do, Lord. But at the time of temptation in the testing be with us, help us, lead us, guide us, reveal wisdom to us, help us suppress the demons and their voices and help us see beyond the veil to the wonder of You and then, finally, to victory. I hope this helps somebody besides me today. And we all stand together in the name of Your Son, Our Saviour and say, in unison, “AMEN!”
