Where is the True Love?

A woman at a church growth conference approached the speaker after a session and told him she didn’t question the material he brought but felt it had nothing to do with her. The speaker asked her why she felt church development had nothing to do with her.


She told him how deeply she had been hurt by the disagreements in her church …how her small group had broken up as a result…how some of her best friends had been avoiding her…how her husband, who did attend had recently left her…how other church members hardly ever had time for her because they were so occupied with all sorts of church growth activities… how she had repeatedly offered to assume some responsibilities in the church, but her offers had always been declined. “Sort out your family problems first" she had been told. I attend a famous, growing church she said as tears filled her eyes, and yet I feel like I am the loneliest person on the planet.

I believe the church is full of people like her--lonely, hurt and disappointed. It is a shame that at the place that claims to meet people's needs, there are only a few believers others can trust enough to open up their hearts to in safety and experience the healing power of God’s love. Where are the believers who can reflect God's love in a way that will satisfy the unfilled hunger for love and bring God's healing power into people's lives?

Sad to say, many churches have grown in the knowledge of the Bible, but not in their ability to love. We know doctrine and tradition well, but never get to know the people we sit with each week in worship beyond, "How are you?" How is it we are so limited in our ability to love in the church that we cultivate a lack of love which God intended us to cure?

Come see us Sunday. We will talk about that.

Pastor Jeff