On Being "Burned" By The Church

Barnabas Piper:

To be truly burned is to be sinned against by the church. It might be a fault in the leadership, hidden or systemic sin that leads them to care poorly for the members. It might be unresolved disputes leading to rivalries and factions. I have left a church for those reasons, too. Unlike the situation I described above, this one hurt: The church was unwilling or unable to resolve sins at the corporate and leadership level. I felt burned.

Of course, every church has its faults—the result of what happens when a group of sinners tries to come together to do … well … most anything. Disappointment with a church is inevitable. People will disappoint. Processes will disappoint. Leadership will disappoint. And often we are disappointed because of our unrealistic expectations.

When we falsely claim—either out of misunderstanding or sin—a church has burned us, we are demeaning the body of Christ. Moving from one church to another is a decision not to be taken lightly, and we should be careful in making accusations of wrongdoing in the process. Our goal is to represent Christ well, and to honor His bride. So we must be cautious in our claims and gracious in our interpretations.

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