HOMILYFROMTHEPEW

I have been within the Church system for close to three decades, serving in leadership in different capacities. I have also had my share of church hurt.

Some experiences were so difficult that I once told my wife: “If I had not known Christ for myself, I could have left the Church and abandoned the faith. I now understand the point at which people throw in the towel and lose faith in God and the Church.”

Those experiences deepened my empathy. By God’s grace, I remain. But my remaining must never become a reason to dismiss another person’s pain.

I once heard the Church described as God’s intensive care unit, a place of succour, healing and restoration.

What happens when people say they were wounded in the intensive care unit?

The Church should heal. Yet people speak of church hurt. That is the painful paradox before us.

Faith is a matter of the heart. People enter wholeheartedly: trusting, serving, giving and opening their lives to people they believe represent Christ. Our brotherhood should deepen our care for one another. That expectation makes betrayal particularly painful.

I have listened to people whose limited knowledge was exploited when they first believed. Studying Scripture and knowing God for themselves helped them recognise what had happened.

Others describe physical abuse, manipulation, humiliation and broken trust. We must also examine the exploitation of poverty or desperation to pressure people into giving.

We must make room for church trauma: experiences whose effects people continue to carry. Following World Mental Health Day, their emotional wellbeing must matter. Prayer, sensitive pastoral care and professional support where needed belong in our response.

Some accused of turning against the Church have questioned wrongdoing and been labelled by leaders. Others have lost faith in a particular institution.

Losing faith in an institution is not the same as losing faith in God.

Before asking, “Why have they turned against us?” we must ask, “What happened while they were here?”

I do not advocate abandoning Christian fellowship. Hebrews 10:24–25 calls us to assemble and encourage one another. But that call must not compel people to remain where they are being harmed. Help them find a community where they can worship, grow and receive care.

These problems did not begin with our generation.

In Acts 6, widows were neglected in the daily distribution. The apostles changed the arrangements. At Corinth, Paul confronted the humiliation of the poor at the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17–22).

Paul challenged domination and exploitation (2 Corinthians 11:20), and Peter’s withdrawal from Gentile fellowship (Galatians 2:11–14). John exposed Diotrephes’ exclusion of believers (3 John 9–10).

The conduct is recorded in Scripture. The apostles confronted it.

There is no perfect congregation. Human beings remain human beings. I do not believe this world can sustain flawless human institutions.

When Scripture speaks of a Church without spot or wrinkle, I understand that holiness as grounded in Christ’s finished work. Ephesians 5:25–27 also speaks of His sanctifying and cleansing the Church towards her glorious presentation.

Our perfection is in Christ. Our responsibility for maturity, accountability, integrity and sensitivity to people’s needs and histories remains.

Integrity does not mean perfection. It requires honesty about wrongdoing and willingness to change.

I came from a judgment zone. I do not do well where I am condemned. People entering our congregations may already carry wounds. We must consider their histories.

Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:11, NKJV).

He gave mercy and direction. The Church must correct wrongdoing without humiliating people or turning mistakes into their identity.

Maturity is also our responsibility.

Once, troubled by what I saw, I asked: “Then who is the believer?”

In my heart, I heard: “You are the one.”

I understood that as a call to embody the change I wanted to see. I am part of the Church. So are you.

Christ remains the standard (1 Corinthians 11:1). Like the Bereans, we must examine teaching against Scripture (Acts 17:11).

Knowing Christ personally has helped me hold on. That does not suggest that wounded people lacked faith.

Institutions must listen, investigate fairly, protect people, support healing, apologise and make restitution where appropriate. They must hold leaders accountable, correct harmful systems and report suspected crimes to the appropriate authorities.

Leadership is stewardship, not ownership. Caring for people must take precedence over protecting institutional reputations, particularly when institutions profess Christ but contradict His character in practice.

Pastor Taiwo Odukoya often said, “Ministry is people.” He demonstrated that conviction until his last breath.

Paul charged leaders to shepherd the Church purchased with God’s own blood (Acts 20:28). He also described believers as betrothed to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). The people entrusted to our care belong to Him.

An institution that disregards people’s hurt and refuses responsive mechanisms to address complaints, confront wrongdoing and support healing has lost sight of its purpose and mission.

Its structure, spread and popularity cannot compensate. When it persistently substitutes the appearance of ministry for the care of people, it becomes a shadow of what it professes to be, alive in structure, dead in purpose. When it conceals harm behind spiritual language, it becomes a seat of deception.

Calling an institution a church must mean more than naming buildings or counting followers. It must carry responsibility for the people Christ entrusted to its care.

I am not condemning the Church. I am not exonerating its institutions. I am asking what responsibility love places upon us.

People are hurting. Their healing matters. Our integrity matters. And our faith must rest in God.

Taiwo AKINLAMI

Follower of Christ. Husband. Father. Egalitarian. Goodwill Investor. Change Agent. Rebel with a Cause. Attorney.Author. Thriver. Culture-Led Family Strengthening and Child Safeguarding Pioneer, Innovator and Practitioner. Value-Based Parenting Ideologue. Three Decades in the Saddle.