Research from the Barna Group<\/a> confirms this is far from rare. More than a quarter of U.S. adults report past experiences with a religious institution as a key source of doubt in the Christian faith, and hypocrisy among believers is one of the most cited reasons people disengage. Many don\u2019t leave in rebellion. They leave in self-preservation, concluding with genuine sorrow: \u201cIf this is Christianity, I can\u2019t survive here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat makes spiritual abuse uniquely devastating is that it weaponizes the sacred. The place meant to bind up wounds becomes the source of them. The name of Jesus \u2014 the very name by which we\u2019re made whole \u2014 is used to manipulate and control. For many survivors, it becomes nearly impossible to separate the abuser from the one he claimed to represent. Some can\u2019t open a Bible or step into a church without real anxiety. I understand. It took some time for me to find the courage to return to a church community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what I\u2019ve struggled to understand \u2014 not in judgment, but in real confusion \u2014 is how someone who has truly encountered Jesus can walk away from Him. The only way I\u2019ve been able to make sense of it is this: we don\u2019t fully appreciate being found until we understand how lost we are. We don\u2019t grasp the good news until we\u2019ve faced the bad news: our own guilt before a perfectly righteous God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years earlier, I\u2019d hit rock bottom in a way that left me alone in an apartment, sitting in the wreckage of my own choices, overwhelmed with shame and desperation. In that place, I became acutely aware of the weight of my own sin and my need for a holy God I had no right or ability to approach on my own. And Jesus met me there. He picked me up, loved me when I felt unlovable, and cleansed me when I felt buried in filth. When you know the Hell you\u2019ve been rescued from, there\u2019s no way you want to let go of your Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My church hurt me. My Savior didn\u2019t. And no one can take Him from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet we lost a great deal. Far more than a church. Because my husband was the children\u2019s pastor, we lost his ministry, his income, and our health insurance. But those weren\u2019t the deepest losses. We lost people \u2014 mentors, close friends, and ministry partners \u2014 the people I thought would fill the pews at my funeral. It felt as though my past, present, and future had been taken at the hands of one powerful and offended man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While my little family worked to stop the bleeding and clear enough of the rubble to move forward, it seemed as if no one skipped a beat back in our former church. The pastor continued preaching to much applause and affirmation. That felt so very wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But God isn\u2019t silent about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Ezekiel 34, He speaks with unmistakable fury against shepherds who exploit and scatter the flock rather than protect it. And in Matthew 18:6, Jesus warns that anyone who causes vulnerable believers to stumble would be better off with a millstone around his neck than face His judgment. A God who speaks this clearly against those who harm His people is a God worth trusting \u2014 not walking away from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re reading this from the rubble of a church that wounded you, hear this: what was done to you was wrong. God sees it. Your pain matters, and you are neither alone nor forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may still find yourself crying out like the prophet Jeremiah, \u201cWhy do the wicked prosper \u2026 why do the treacherous thrive?\u201d (Jer. 12:1). Scripture doesn\u2019t ignore that question. It answers it with something higher. Jesus promised this life would include tribulation (John 16:33). He Himself was betrayed, rejected, and crucified, and yet He overcame the world. He endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Heb 12:2). He isn\u2019t asking us to walk a road He hasn\u2019t walked Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has promised that one day every tear will be wiped away and every wrong made right (Phil. 2:10; Rev. 21:4). And most beautifully, through the apostle John, He has promised us: \u201cBehold, I am making all things new \u2026 these words are trustworthy and true\u201d (Rev. 21:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus continues to heal my broken heart, and in His merciful kindness has allowed me to share that comfort with others. I\u2019m fully convinced we have a transcendent hope in the one whose life, death, and resurrection have proven His faithfulness. This isn\u2019t the end of our story, and one day Jesus will look into every heart and \u2014 echoing the words of Ezekiel 34 \u2014 ask, \u201cHow did you treat my lambs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can trust a Savior like that. If you\u2019re still holding on with all you\u2019ve got, don\u2019t let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is the Good Shepherd \u2014 the One who heals what no one else can. And He never fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the Author: <\/strong>Teasi Cannon is an author, speaker, and host of the True Comfort Podcast. She is a lifelong learner who is passionate about helping others cultivate a sound and enduring devotion to Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OPINION: Teasi Cannon \u201cYou are a personal and professional offense to me!\u201d The words pierced my heart and echoed in my mind for weeks. My pastor \u2014 the man whose ministry had shaped my life for more than 23 years \u2014 believed I\u2019d somehow damaged his reputation, and he was furious. Despite our best efforts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[119,200,690,179],"coauthors":[921],"class_list":{"0":"post-12089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinion","8":"tag-bible","9":"tag-god","10":"tag-inspiration","11":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12091,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12089\/revisions\/12091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12089"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=12089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}