Can I Trust God’s People Again?

But what about God’s people? Is it possible to trust them again? If you’re like me and you’ve been wounded by other Christians, then you know how hard it is to risk being hurt by them again. The very place God intended for us to thrive in becomes the place we desperately want to avoid. The very people God called us to love become the people we want so little to do with.

In the aftermath of leaving my church, I picked up a lot of bad habits and false beliefs. I picked up the habit of keeping people at arm’s length. I learned to avoid any kind of vulnerability with God’s people. I got really good at showing up but not really being there. I became an expert at saying the right things but also leaving at the right time – my time!

I also picked up some false beliefs. I believed that while Jesus was trustworthy his people were not. I believed that I could grow in my Christian walk and live the Christian life without any close contact with God’s people. I believed that I didn’t need God’s people to live a full and abundant Christian life. I basically made up my own beliefs about the church and hoped God would cut me some slack because of what I’d been through.

Then one day, I met some pretty great Christians. I met men and women of God who actually lived what they believed. Like me, they had been wounded by other Christians. Like me, their faith had been fractured. And like me, God had slowly reconstructed their faith and renewed their love for Him. The more they tasted of God’s love the more they poured out their love for others. I inadvertently became a victim of their love.

Love has a way of breaking down our walls when we least expect it to. Love has a way of melting the hard edges of our souls. Love doesn’t judge or demand, it places no expectations on a relationship. Love waits. Love perseveres. Love shows mercy where it’s needed and grants grace where it’s not always wanted.

True love, Christ-like love, is the only way to trust God’s people again. This kind of love is born out of brokenness. As you rest in God’s love for you, this kind of love will flow out of you touching God’s people, not because you need them but because they need you.

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(For more, check out Lina’s book: Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction )