DEFINING CHURCH HURT

You may experience hurt from:

✓   People

✓   Leaders

✓   Manmade denominations and doctrines

✓   Religious and traditional systems that are false representations of the

church

However, the church itself did not hurt you. Even though I just shared my testimony in a previous chapter regarding church hurt, the church itself did not hurt me. Your experience happened to be at church, and I truly sympathize and apologize for your experience.  I truly regret it occurred and I decree this manual delivers and heals you. I do, however, want to speak truth that despite your situation and my experiences occurring in a church or with church people, the church itself did not hurt either of us. Let me say that again, “your experience occurred in church, but the church itself did not hurt you.”

In fairness, when we are hurt on the job we do not call it "job hurt." When a family member hurts you, you do not label it "family hurt." You do not stop working and never return to work because you encounter challenges on a job. You do not ostracize your entire family because a few people in the family hurt you.  We do not throw away entire systems or do away with entire systems when we are hurt in other areas of life. We, therefore, must stop doing this with the church. Especially since God’s church is not a building, it is not a select group of people, it is not a particular ministry. God’s church is the body of Christ.  We are all his church.  I do want to state that in these systems many of the people are not saved, so we do not hold them to the same standard as we would the church, and rightfully so.  When we accept Jesus as our personal savior and begin to walk in relationship with him, we are committing to be better people, make better choices, and care for and protect the hearts of one another.  We therefore, have to stop making excuses for our inappropriate behavior in the church and implement standards, tools, and strategies to change our interactions and climate where we are becoming the bible we say we believe.  

Church hurt can be the worst kind of hurt for several reasons:

✓   You are trying to process how a Godly leader or person in church can hurt you.

✓   You are trying to process how a place that is supposed to protect and

empower you can harm you.

✓   You are trying to process how others can still follow that leader or attend

that church, while knowing you have been hurt.

✓   You are trying to process why God has not revealed to the people that

you have been hurt by a leader or person, or why they have not discerned your pain.

✓   You are trying to process how the leader or person can hurt you and still

be used of God to do mighty acts.

✓   You are trying to process how a leader or person from a church can hurt

you and still be blessed, even as the ministry continues to advance.

✓   You are trying to process how the leader or person can hurt you and can

call everyone else out on their sin but have no conviction for their actions towards you.

✓   You are trying to process how that leader or person can study and seek

God for mighty revelation, yet receive no insight on their actions towards you.

✓   You are trying to process how everyone else appears to be getting what

they need from that leader or church but you only received pain.

These checkpoints are what I would label as “friendly fire.” Friendly fire is defined as a weapon firing from one’s own camp that causes injury or death. We expect the demons to hurt us, wicked people to hurt us, people who hate God and his word to hurt us, but we do not expect those within our own camp to harm us. We deem ministries to be our heaven on earth. They are our safe havens for being protected by the presence and power of God. The saints are our friends, our allies, our partners, and supports who help us to take the kingdom by force. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, we never expect to get hurt by those on our team. When this happens, we demand a logical explanation, but because it is within the church, and we do not expect church hurt to happen, any explanation tends to be viewed as illogical and unacceptable.

As I explored the concept of church hurt, I would have to contend that challenges within the church are inevitable. We will experience them. We are imperfect people seeking to be perfected by a perfect God. God does not promise us that we will not have challenges and trials within the church. He does expect us to be transformed by his presence, standards, strategies, and guidance so as we are SHIFTING in our transformation, we should be more loving, considerate, honoring, empowering, and unified with one another.  When SHIFTING from level to level and glory to glory in and with him, God also provides us with wisdom and guidance regarding how to handle conflicts and trials. I, therefore, would first like to dismantle the myth and mindset that church hurt should not happen. It will occur. We, however, need to be trained and equipped in how to handle it. How to care for one another's emotions, hearts, souls, and identities, such that we SHIFT into the perfect church that God is in pursuit of.

Decreeing personal and ministerial transformation such that God's church and body begins to looks like him.  SHIFT!

Book available at Kingdomshifters.com and on Amazon.  

TRUE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH

One factor we need to consider is often we equate the purpose of the church to doctrines and denominational systems within the church.

Religious Doctrines are religious creeds, philosophies, and standards a church abides by (e.g. We believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, we believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the evidence of speaking in tongues).

Denominational Systems are organizations that a church or ministry tend to identify themselves with to create a corporate culture with norms, rules, and expectations (e.g., Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Nondenominational).

Often doctrines and systems are manmade standards men set using many biblical principles to help bring structure to a ministry vision, a church, or church body. But this is not necessarily God's purpose of the church. Especially if the doctrine or system has biblical errors, untruths, and becomes more important than God, God's people, his word, vision for that ministry and the body of Christ as a whole.

Some church doctrines and systems may include standards regarding attire, code of conduct, and activities that are more based on what that doctrine’s or leader’s personal perspective of being saved, holy, or modest is, rather than God’s biblical perspective of salvation.

The other challenge we have with doctrines and systems is that if some people decide they believe something different than the doctrines and systems of that church, many become hurt by it. Especially if it excludes them, challenges a sin they want to compromise or engage in, or causes them to have to disconnect from that ministry. The challenge with this is, often if these perspectives are rooted in sin and compromise, a person will consider that assembly religious. The expectation of God loving all people, while recognizing that God has a standard for salvation has become distorted, confusing, and debatable, despite what the Bible says.

A lot of ideologies we call religious today are not religious. For example, if someone seeks to keep or iterate the standard of holiness that is the foundation of God and his biblical word, we automatically call that person "religious." Many often proclaim the concept of grace, or the fact that we all sin to counterattack what we deem to be "holier than though," "self-righteous jargon," regarding the need to be holy and pursue holiness. Holiness is not a doctrine or a system. It is a biblical truth of God's character and nature and is a biblical expectation he has for us as his people. God does not want his people willingly living in sin, bound by devils, and compromising his word and standards. He wants us to have a clear understanding of his holiness, and to live in pursuit of his holiness.

Because doctrines and systems have set standards to define holiness, and we have learned over the centuries that some of these religious acts and perceptions are not important to God, many have rebelled against God's standard for the church. Many want to throw God’s entire purpose of the church out rather than acknowledge and correct the errors within some systems and doctrines and teach people to have a relationship with God, and honor his word so that we begin to live and morph as his true church.

God's church is designed to save, deliver, heal, empower, and equip people to walk in their ordained destiny. That is the whole reason Jesus came to earth, was crucified, and rose for our sins.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.

The church does what it is created to do.  Jesus was an embodying representation of the church. Regardless of the actions of man, implementations of denominations, doctrines, and systems, God’s design of the church does not change and does not hurt anyone but the devil.

Though we have different churches all over our cities and the world, Jesus never said we were to be our own separate church.  To Jesus, we are all one church and upon us all, he builds and fulfills his kingdom in the earth.

Matthew 16:13-18 The Amplified Bible Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they answered, some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—ahuge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].

Ephesians 4:4-8 The Amplified Bible [There is] one body and one Spirit—just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received—[There is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all], pervading all and [living] in [us] all.

Yet grace (God’s unmerited favor) was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ’s [rich and bounteous] gift. Therefore it is said, when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men.

As a church and as a church member, to Jesus, we are one body with different gifts, visions, workings, and operations. Our vision from ministry to ministry may be different, but we are one church.

1Corinthians 12:12-20 For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). For by [means of the personal agency of] one [Holy] Spirit we were all, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, baptized [and by baptism united together] into one body, and all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit. For the body does not consist of one limb or organ but of many.  If the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?

If the ear should say, because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where [would be the sense of] hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where [would be the sense of] smell? But as it is, God has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished and saw fit and with the best adaptation. But if [the whole] were all a single organ, where would the body be? And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body.

Each church and each person has a measure of Jesus that we bring to the world to help make up his complete church.

Ephesians 4:8-13 The Amplified Bible Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men. [But He ascended?] Now what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had previously descended from [the heights of] heaven into [the depths], the lower parts of the earth? He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest).

And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and

expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers. His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church), That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

1Corinthians 12:21-27 The Amplified Bible And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. But instead, there is [absolute] necessity for the parts of the body that are considered the more weak.  And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum),

Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance], So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it. Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].

We were never supposed to be viewed as our own separate church. We are one church, even though we are in different locations. Our experiences within the church are not God’s church hurting us.  Receiving this truth will help dismantle fears, indignations, generalizations, and separations that keep us bound in hurtful church experiences.

Decreeing you are receiving truth and SHIFTING forward with enlightenment and healing. SHIFT!

Wisdom Keys For Transitioning Out Of A Ministry

Wisdom Keys for Shifting with God!

• Leave Honorably
• Avoid Gossip
• Avoid The Victim Mentality
• Draw Nigh Unto God
• Break Soulties
• Deliverance and Healing:
• Addressing the Congregation During Transitions

Leave Honorably Schedule a meeting with your leader/s and share with them what God has spoken to you. Be respectful and honoring no matter how they respond. Let them know that you are simply being obedient to God, but do not defend what God has led you to do. Speak honestly, and do not add more to what God has said. If you do not know everything God has prepared, be honest in sharing that, and let them know you are open to sharing as God further reveals information to you. Give a date of departure, and tie up any ministry duties, etc., say your goodbyes to those you have done ministry with, bless them in their continued endeavors, and move forward with God

.

It is always good to equip successors while you are in a leadership position. However, if you did not do this, seek God on what day you are to leave, then share this with your overseer, and encourage them to find a replacement for you. If you know of those within the ministry that are equipped to replace you, then recommend them to your leader. If the leader agrees in them replacing you, ask them if they are open to taking your place.  If they accept the position, pray a blessing impartation over them, release all duties to them, and encourage them and those under them in being able to carry the vision further. Share any revelation and duties that will enable their transition to be smooth and successful. If there is no one to take your place, then move forward, while trusting God to provide for the ministry.

Avoid Gossip If people become messy and gossipy regarding your transition, do not get into this type of conversation with them. Do not have conversations about flaws and issues regarding the leader and the ministry, or regarding your hurtful challenges and any concerns you may have relating to your experience. Simply focus on the fact that it is your time to go and SHIFT, while dealing with your hurts and challenges in prayer with God, a Christian Counselor, or a mature saint who can keep you focused on where God is taking you. Shut down all conversations that will try to draw you into dishonor as even if it is true, when you yield to gossip and slander, it is dishonor to God, and to the fact that he SHIFTED and separated you to steer you away from mess.  Tell the gossipers you have nothing to say, and if cutting ties with them is necessary, then do that. When I left my previous church, I shut the gossipers down by blessing the leadership and the ministry, and simply contending that it was just time for me to transition and therefore, I was being obedient to God. There was no room to entangle me in their gossip, so they hushed with trying to engage me in conversation.

If you are being slandered by gossip and betrayal due to the leader and/or the ministry because of leaving, do not seek to defend yourself, and do not try to have others within that ministry to comfort and support you in your time of transition. Those that would try to comfort and support you from that ministry are going to be torn between you and that ministry.  Any assistance they give you will be mixed with confusion and turmoil, and will still connect you to something God has brought you out of. You can be cordial and friends, but receive your support and healing from people who are not attached to the situation, and that can focus you on healing and SHIFTING with God. When I left my previous ministry, my God sister and brother still attended that ministry. They are like blood family to me, and my God sister is one of my main life supports. But for this situation, I did not go to her to help me with this transition. I did not want to put her in a position to choose, be torn, or draw her from what God was still requiring her to do in the ministry. I also did not want her to feel like she had to fix or defend how others were responding to my transition.  That was not her responsibility as I simply was doing what God was leading me to do. Though she and I remained close, and she was in my everyday life, I went to my overseer, my mentor, and two close friends who lived in other states, to help me process through my thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the SHIFT that had taken place in my life.

Avoid Victim Mentality Do not go to broken saints and saints who are still wounded by church hurt for support and counsel when you are transitioning out of a church. I mention this because even if you do not seek them out, they will find you. I do not know if the devil sends them or if it is because you are in a vulnerable place, and possibly even wounded that they smell the blood of your wounds and flock to you. But whatever the case, when they come, do not rely on them for support. Give up your need to have people understand you for the sake of just healing in a healthy manner and SHIFTING with God.  You do not need a support group of wounded folks who only want to drown in their pain, and validate that leaders and the church are a farce.  Such people are out for revenge, and to tear down leaders and the church, thus becoming an enemy of God and his will to advance his kingdom in the earth. Your focus should be to build up the kingdom, so do not attach to this crowd.

Do not get stuck in rehearsing your pain that it drowns out your ability to be healed and to hear God for the next revelation and moves he has for your life. When you constantly rehearse your pain, you are stuck in a victim mentality. You have become your own offender, because you are now the one continuing to reopen and inflict pain upon wounds that God has healed or wants to heal.

You do not need to talk to 700,894,842 folks about what has happened to you. Especially when all they are doing is agreeing with you, and validating that it should not have occurred. True encouragers sympathize with you, while seeking to bring healing so your pain will end. They do not feed into your pain where it continues or deepens. If you continuously need attention and validation for your wounds, then you are bound by a victim mentality and have become your own offender. Get a few accountable, mature, healthy people that can be sympathetic to you, yet SHIFT you to being delivered, healed, and advancing forward with God.

Draw Nigh To God Though it is important to have a few mature supports who can encourage you, support you, provide deliverance, healing, and wise counsel, everyone is not going to understand your transition.  Even people that support you and provide guidance, will not fully understand your SHIFT. Transitions are supernatural. They are a time of really treading in the truth, power, faith, and encouragement of God. He is the only one who can FULLY comfort, support, instruct, guide, and help you comprehend what is happening to you and for you.  Transition is a time of drawing near to him. Those who are supports will confirm what he personally does in, through, and for you. Study the story of Jesus as he transitioned from leading the disciples to dying on the cross. It will provide significant keys and revelation of how to draw near to God and transition with him.

Break Soulties Break soulties with anything that will try to keep you stuck or focused on your past ministry or church season, where it is a hindrance to you being focused on the "new." Lots wife looked back because her soul was still tied to Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:26).

If the relationship or dynamics were unhealthy, you may have to break soulties with:

·     Your leader/s.

·     The people in the ministry. You may have to break soulties with friends and acquaintances. Sometimes it is difficult to leave when we are tied to people we love. The soultie is unhealthy if it is hindering or causing a struggle where we cannot SHIFT with God. The soultie may need to be broken and then re-established in the new place you are in.

·     The ministry itself.

·     Prophecies or promises you believe you have aborted due to leaving. Declare they will come to pass in your future seasons.

·     Drama and messiness that you were a part of or that was present within the ministry.

·     False promises and promotions that never came to pass or that was only given in measure.  Declare they will come to pass in your future seasons.

·     The potential you saw in the ministry and hoped would manifest.

·     Disappointments, pains, and hurts that you endured from the leader, the ministry, and during your transition.

·     The community and region if you were SHIFTED to a new community and region to minister in.

·     Ministry positions and platforms you held that may be pulling on your heart and soul.

Deliverance and Healing If you are going to be a progressive person, it is necessary to focus on SHIFTING forward. That means anything that is going to keep you stuck or bound in the past should be removed.  As much as you will be justified and want to hold on to your emotions, do not do it.  Use the strategies and revelations throughout this book so you can be delivered and healed.  SHIFTING comes with its own set of emotions that you have to conquer. Do not confound your transition by holding onto unhealthy or challenging emotions that will keep you bound and stifled. Work through them and commit to being made well of anything from your past. Please understand that when a SHIFT has occurred, the foundation has been cracked. When your emotions are driving you, you are subject to fall into one rather than having the focus to jump over hurdles and obstacles.

Transitions display your maturity and faith in God. You will learn where your character is strong, and where you need improvement and further development.

2Timothy 2:3-4 Take [with me] your share of the hardships and suffering [which you are called to endure] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him.

Endure the trials of SHIFTING with integrity and character, while taking your pains and hurts to God so he can deliver and heal you. Seek your close support system for further deliverance and healing of areas that may be difficult to heal or be free from. Some areas will require a continual battering and release unto God before breakthrough occurs. This is a transition, so it is a process that is occurring. Therefore, you will have to be processed to wholeness even as you are being processed to your “next.” God is also doing some new things in your mind, heart, and soul to build you in your “new.” Some things will happen quickly, and some will happen over time. Let God lead you in the process of transitioning into the “new” with him. As you surrender your process to God, receive deliverance, and healing in the following areas:

·     Forgive anyone who hurts you, does not understand you, or betrays you.

·     Cleanse and heal from all bitterness, anger, rage, resentment, retaliation, murder, slander, and gossip.

·     Release all expectations and hurt from not being supported, being overlooked, not being understood, and being betrayed.

·     Break powers of shame, guilt, condemnation, accuser of the brethren, gossip, slander, and word curses against your “next”.

·     Cast out and break powers of fear, inadequacy, insecurity, and feeling unworthy of what God has for you. Consistently declare out who you are, and what God is requiring of you. Command the earth, region, and new place to receive you as God’s chosen vessel (See Romans 8:22). Refuse to be denied, and know that you deserve to be where God is taking you.

·     Have your personal confidants praying and covering you as you SHIFT. Be specific in what they should pray for, so they can agree with what God is saying.

·     Deal with the grief and loss of your transition. Do not stuff your grief, ignore it, or wallow in it. Typically, the stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It is very easy to get stuck in one of these stages during transition. The main reason is because we expect everything about the new to be glorious and easy. We assume that there will not be challenges, hardship, new things to learn and conquer, etc. We quote “new level - new devils,“ but we expect blessings and overflow. We become challenged and fixated on all that we loss and have given up. Such a focus plagues us with grief. Your feelings are real and understandable, and God cares about how you feel. Tell the Lord exactly how it hurts and sucks, but be willing to let the feelings go. Receive his deliverance and healing when he strives to exchange your grief for comfort, peace, joy, love, and healing.

·     Immediately complete and implement whatever God tells you. Some of it will sound farfetched. Remember that God uses the foolish to confound the wise. His methods are not of this world. They are conventional. Some matters you will not understand until you implement them, or until future seasons of your life. I am still learning and understanding things that God had me do in a major SHIFT that occurred years ago. I had to give up my need to understand so I could flow with God.  It was totally worth it.  You will not regret trusting God.

·     Embrace your new relationships and connections. They will be different, and some will not be what you are used to and expected. But God is not trying to establish the old, he is about the “new.”  Trust who he has put in your life and do not make them be responsible for what others have done and have not done in your life. Just because they are new, it does not guarantee that you will not be hurt again. Neither does you putting up walls and being resistant to embracing these relationships. God does not control our freewill to be messy. But as you go through this transition, it is important to accept people for exactly who they are, flaws and all. Learn to engage people from the truth of who they are, as then you will be able to accept and heal from challenges you will encounter in your relationships. This helps in discerning drama and challenges before they occur, and dealing with them quickly so you can keep it moving with God.

Addressing The Congregation During Transition A lot of times we move forward and act like nothing happened when people leave the ministry, however, the challenges that occur when people transition out of the ministry need to be addressed. We must be open and available to discussing, and bringing healing to the people and the ministry organizations, as regardless of whether people leave in a healthy or unhealthy manner, it is still a loss. Addressing the loss especially needs to be done if the person was a major leader within the ministry or if offense occurred with various people within the ministry.  Be open to the following:

·     Meet with the congregation, and or members of specific ministries, and deal with feelings and issues of abandonment, grief, and loss. People will feel abandoned because of unresolved issues of abandonment in their personal lives.  People will not even know that these unresolved issues are there, and will feel voided and hurt due to the person’s transition. A lot of slander and gossip can be avoided simply by dealing with this area, and helping people to process their feelings. As I transitioned out of my previous church, I had several meetings with my leaders before leaving.  I believe people would have handled my transition better if this information was shared with them by leadership.

·     Pray for the entire congregation, and for people who may need more personal processing in the areas of abandonment, grief, and loss, and provide people with healthy tools and supports to process their thoughts and feelings.

·     Demonstrating genuine support of the person that is leaving is key to helping members transition in a healthy manner. If leaders are silent regarding a transition, it leaves room for the enemy to cause division and confusion, and for people to form their own interpretation about that person’s transition. When people see leaders giving genuine blessings despite challenges of losing that person, they are apt to deal with their feelings in a healthy manner.

·    Do not preach about the issue over the pulpit, or make public remarks regarding your challenges with the person’s transition. This provokes gossip and slander, and causes people to take sides.

·     Do not lend to gossip and slander, and discourage people from engaging in such negativity. Promote unity and respect of the person’s right to make their own decisions.

·   Provide people with wise counsel regarding their own thoughts and feelings concerning being challenged by the person leaving, or them feeling they should leave.

·     Be kingdom minded and not church focused. Kingdom minded leaders recognize that we are all one body advancing the kingdom of God. Church minded leaders are focused on building their own little kingdom and gathering people unto themselves.

Decreeing that transitions will be smoother as people learn to respect God’s will and flow in the process of SHIFTING with him. SHIFT!  

Annihilating The Powers of Church Hurt is available at Kingdomshifters.com

REASONS GOD WOULD HAVE YOU LEAVE A MINISTRY

If you experience church hurt and God leads you to leave a ministry, it is important to do so honorably. You want to be in order with God and you want him to be pleased with you no matter what other people do or do not do.  It does not matter if the leader wants you to stay, if people want you to stay, and even if you are hesitant about whether you should go or stay, if God is unctioning you to leave, be obedient and follow the plan he gives you regarding leaving. When you remain in a church due to familiarity or fear of backlash, slander, etc., it causes unnecessary challenges.  Emoting drama usually manifests due to you being out of alignment with what God is saying and where he desires you to be as you are uncovered. This opens a door for the enemy to wreak havoc in an already challenging transitional situation.

Reasons God will have a person leave a ministry:

·       The person has received all they can under that ministry.

·       The person needs to connect or be under the covering of another ministry to further align with God, and the calling and destiny on his or her life.

·       The person needs to receive greater training and equipping.

·       The person has a specific assignment somewhere else; some people are sent into ministries to raise up or cover a specific remnant within that ministry, or to impart or govern a specific area of that ministry, community, region, nation.

·       It is time for the person to independently focus on their own life and ministry vision.

·       The leader and/or church is operating in somethings contrary to God, and he is requiring the person to separate themselves from the reproach, consequences, and judgment that may come upon that ministry.

·       The person was only to be there for a season, a particular work, or for specific training. Some ministries are not your lifetime ministry. God is a SHIFTING God. He never plateaus. He is always focused on upward mobility and success.  He is always seeking to do the exceeding, abundant, and beyond. What we deem as success could be just the beginning for God. He may be elevating you or allowing you to experience different facets of his glory and kingdom. Remain a life learner so you can SHIFT with God.

·       The person has experienced hurt within that church and need to SHIFT to adequately work on his or her healing process and further align in their destiny.

It is important to understand that:

·       We are not one church, but a body of believers.

·       We are one kingdom under God.

·       We are not in competition with one another.

·       We are all ONE church with different assignments and functions.

·       If someone leaves and goes to another church or starts a ministry, they are still your brother and sister in Christ. They are an extension of God's work through you, and of the body of Christ as a whole.

Romans 12:4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function.

1Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

If someone decides to leave your church, you must respect their

decision. Slandering and betraying them causes church hurt. If they are leaving due to church hurt, then this just caused more harm to their soul, and potentially made it more complicated for them to bond with their new ministry assembly.

Reasons people do not leave when God says:

·       False loyalty

·       False obligation

·       Fear of being betrayed or being viewed as a renegade

·       Fear of not being supported

·       Fear of being abandoned and ostracized

·       Fear of leaving the familiar

·       Fear of going alone

·       Fear of being alone, losing supports, and friendships

·       Fear of failing

·       Fear that there is no one to step in and do their work, or the lack of raising up a successor

·       Feeling like they are letting down the leaders or ministry

·       Bound by ungodly or unhealthy soulties with the leader, people, and the ministry

·       Bound in religion and tradition

·       Rebellious; self-focused rather than God focused

·       Bound and used to being hurt while contending it is persecution for the gospel

·       Traumatized to a point of not being able to make an effective decision

There is a general population of people that does not leave as God required because they have difficulty dealing with the grief and loss of leaving.  Sometimes just the thought of leaving causes an influx of emotions. Anytime you leave or lose something, whether good or bad, there are emotions to process through. Loss creates a void in our soul and lives. Now we must learn to live without that person, place, or thing.

2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The "new" can be exciting, but it also can be scary.  It is an unfamiliar place where we trust and learn God, and ourselves at a new dimension. What we learned in previous seasons has prepared us for the new, but may not necessarily be our survival mechanism, spiritual tools, and supports, for sustaining in the new place. Our focus should be on this truth of Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." God has greater for you in the new place.  SHALL YOU NOT KNOW IT?

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

When God is requiring a person to leave, even if it is due to church hurt and a need for healing in a fresh environment, we must view this as elevation for the entire body of Christ. We must bless and support people, so they can be obedient to the will of God, and transition in the healthiest manner possible.

If people do not support your transition, you must SHIFT with God regardless of ill treatment. Some people either are not meant to go with you to your “next” or abort their position in your “next.”  You must take on the mindset that you are going to be exactly where God wants you to be and do whatever he is requiring, no matter who likes it or not; no matter who joins you on your journey or not.

Today I encourage you to:

·       Let the familiarity with your leader, the people, your positions, and the ministry go!

·       Let the false expectations you have for your leader and the ministry go!

·       Let the anger, hurt, disappointment, and resentment of not being empowered or validated go!

·       Let the fear of the unknown go!

·       Let the excuses, laziness, disobedience and rebellion go!

·       Let the lie that you are waiting on God and to hear from God go!

·       Let the unhealthiness and drama go!

·       Let the fear that you cannot heal without these people or this ministry go!

·       Let the fear that you are aborting your inheritance if you leave this leader or ministry go!

Stop toiling a ground that is bringing pain and death to your destiny.  God is waiting to further align you with the “new!” SHIFT!

For more revelation on this topic, purchase "Annihilating The Powers Of Church Hurt" at kingdomshifters.com