Religious institutions are not always safe for people who are suffering.

Finding spiritual safety is not easy. Religious institutions that are supposed to be safe are not necessarily so. Sadly, this condition is true for religious institutions that are supposed to be promoting the Good News of Messiah Y'shua/Jesus.

It is not uncommon for people to be hurting emotionally and spiritually but to fear seeking help from a religious institution because of the bad reputation that religious institutions have earned.

This blogger has talked to plenty of people who were harmed by churches, which is why those people stay away from churches altogether.

Yes, bad churches are everywhere. The reason is something that I wish to address in a future post.

First, I want to pass on an observation made by the late Christian theologian William Barclay:

"When we have a sad and sorry tale to tell, when life has drenched us with tears, we do not go to a God who is incapable of understanding what has happened; we go to a God who has been there. 

. . . He knows our problems because he has come through them.  The best person to give you advice and help on a journey is someone who has travelled the road before you.  God can help because he knows it all.  Jesus is the perfect high priest because he is perfectly God and perfectly man.  Because he has known our life he can give us sympathy, mercy and power.  He brought God to men and he can bring men to God."*

Messiah Y'shua/Jesus did not come to Humanity in order to belittle hurting people. Indeed, he saved his criticisms for people who were self-righteous. 

If you are suffering in some way, then I want you to know this: Messiah Jesus is not a church. Churches are fallible. He is not.

We are supposed to place all of our faith in Jesus, not in a church.

Yes, if one wants the best spiritual health, then it is important for one to belong to a good religious institution that promotes the Good News of Messiah Jesus.

We are supposed to interact with other believers in Messiah Jesus so that our faith in Jesus will grow, so that we can be encouraged whenever life gets us down or whenever we are afflicted by evil.

However, if you are not ready to be a part of a good religious institution, then be assured that your eternal destiny does not depend on you being a member of any particular church. Instead, your eternal destiny depends entirely on Jesus.

Here's the deal: Jesus has already done the work necessary for you to be God's child. Whenever you place your entire faith in Jesus, your eternal destiny is to be with God, receiving his unending blessings.

Yes, your life on Earth may still be hard, but you will be given the spiritual strength that you need in order to endure hardships. I know this from experience, which I will share in another post.

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*Barclay, W. (1976). The Letter to the Hebrews. The Daily Study Bible Series. Westminster John Knox Press.