Matt 18:21-22
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. KJV
Intro: "I got Hurt" is almost a standard saying for those that leave a church or an organization. Some never get over it and some use it to they will never be hurt again. No matter how hard we collectively try, there will always be those that get hurt or offended. There are over a thousand promises in the New Testament alone from God but nowhere do I find that He promised that we would never be offended or have our feelings hurt. If you can find one please contact me immediately. The truth is just the opposite. We are assured that if we walk with Him we will be offended or have our feelings hurt at some time or another. (Matt 24:10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.) KJV I deeply believe that the KJV is the word of God for the English speaking world today. I have had many hurtful words thrown at me because of the stand I take. I learned to over-come that hurt by loving those folks just as Christ did. I learned to never treat them any different than any other. There’s an old saying, “Is that hill worth dying for?”
1. Hard to get over it:
Over the past several years of being a pastor I have been approached by several persons that at one time in their adult life they were offended or was deeply hurt. Some never forgot the incident. They would not or maybe could not forgive the guilty party or parties. Actually they have let one incident control them, and cause them to make bad decisions that change the path in which they were traveling. Offensives and hurt feelings can be a mighty powerful and destructive weapons that Satan uses to his fullest. Just the sight of the person that offended you will refresh the whole incident and the hurt rises up.
2. Where do these offenses take place?
Far too many offenses happen in the church. Why the Church? Cause church offenses have the longest and deepest effect. That's because, that kind of hurt goes deeper into the heart and therefore are remembered longer. We have the ideal that folks aren't supposed to get hurt in the church. But sad to say, it does happen more frequently than it should. I'm not talking about those that carry their feeling around on their shoulder or dragging them ten feet behind them, I speaking of a sure-a-nuff hurt.
3. What to do?
As I said at the beginning of this message, "I got Hurt" is almost a standard saying of those that quite the ministry or a church member left the church. Well, "Just pray about it" is the standard answer heard from many friends or even in some cases the pastor. Well I don’t mean to be harsh or brasses but to me, "just pray about it" is a cop-out, unless you are asking God to search you and create in you a clean heart and a renewed mind.
The answer is a hard one but it worked for me and I believe it will do the same for others.
Several years ago a preacher friend of mine told some pretty harsh and hurting lies about me which made it very difficult to participate in organizational meeting we both attended. A bitterness grew in my heart toward him.
I was sitting in a congregation one Sunday morning when the pastor said, “There is someone hear today that has let bitterness grow in his heart toward a fellow minister, and if he will stand, I’m going to pray for him and God will deliver him. There was no earthly ways that this pastor could have known anything about this but I knew he was talking to me. Along with several others I stood and as the pastor prayed I lifted my hands toward God and I felt a defiant release of pressure from within me. The following Thursday night I was scheduled to preach at a church out in the country. As I started my message the preacher that I had the problem with walked in the side door. No way was this a coincidence. This same preacher had problem with the pastor of this church also and he had never visited this church. As he walked to a pew directly in front of the pulpit I stopped and without hesitating I walked toward him, by the look on his face, he didn’t know whether to duck of pucker. I looked him straight in the eye, both eyes, and ask him to forgive me for the way I had treated him. Today we are closer than we ever were.
Another incident occurred in a revival meeting at the church I presently pastor. There were two former pastors of a different denomination were present. I don’t think that they knew that the other one was there. They sat on differ sides of the sanctuary. But at the end of the service, one discovered the other and made a “B” line toward the other. There were some pretty loud and harsh words exchanged one of them left the church with his after burner kicked in. It was embarrassing to the whole congregation. Both have passed on now I pray that they made everything wright before they met the Lord.
Let me share another incident that occurred at a meeting in my church a couple of years ago. The quest preacher used the "N" word. He said it so fast that it surprised him more than those that heard it. I personally didn’t hear it, some that did were very offended. The next day the preacher who is a nationally known minister and singer was so troubled in his spirit that he wanted me to drive him to the residents of some that were hurt so he could make a face to face apology. Which I was more than happy to do.
The first resident was the home of a lady that hadn't been saved very long. When we were invited in, the preacher started to express his embarrassment and trying to apologize the sister cut him off and to my amazement, the lady started to cry. Through her broken voice, she said, and I'll never forget, "I am the one that needs to apologize to you, I judged you and Christians aren't supposed to do that." She asked the one that had offended her to forgive her for allowing the hurt to cause her to judge. WOW!! I will be forever impressed and thanked God that such a precious woman calls me, "Pastor."
Did you catch the answer to, "What to Do?" Well read it again and again and if you don't see it after the third time, call me. I've been hurt and hurt deeply. It took me years to learn the answer to that question, "What to Do" it took this sister less that a year of knowing Jesus. You've been hurt? How long will it take you to see the answer? No doubt, people do get hurt in church but the value of the hurt or offense is the value you put on it. You let it grow it can put you in prison and bondage. Matt 6:14-15. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. KJV “Is That Hill Worth Dying For?”
