It’s been about ten years. One place that I felt was a safe place to share intimate truths turned out to be a minefield of pain. I had attended this church for nearly three decades before the knife stabbed my heart.
I’m not the only person who has been hurt by the Christian organization called the church. Sadly many of those who are on the receiving end are people who are exploring Christianity. Even sadder, these folks may not return.
In his book When Bad Christians Happen to Good PeopleDave Burchett acknowledges that Christians can damage others. More importantly he offers some remedies to reverse the damage.
Don’t by-pass this book just because you’ve not had such an experience. There are lessons for all Christians to learn. Like me, you may found out that you’ve committed an act or two that drives people away.
Burchett begins with his own story of pain without blame or rants. He states the facts and moves onto actions that all of us have committed at one time or another. Not all of them are so devastating as to cause someone to throw off their faith. But they do cause pain and can cause someone to look elsewhere for spiritual comfort.
Bad Christians-Good People also isn’t a touchy-feely cleansing of all the bad things that have ever happened to someone at the hands of Christians. Burchett is straightforward in presenting the case that sometimes people in the Christian church do bad things. He’s also straightforward about how we can change or overcome hurtful actions by beginning with ourselves.
Like Burchett, I chose to leave the hurtful church for different congregation. That move helped me to realize that not all Christian church organizations are unfeeling. Compassion does exist.
While I choose also not to talk about the incident, I had never really overcome the hurt.
Read the first chapter
When Bad Christians Happen to Good People: Where We Have Failed Each Other and How to Reverse the Damage
Dave Burchett
$14.99
ISBN:978-0-307-72992-7
Available on Kindle
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