Don’t Give Up on Jesus

Let me offer a brief pastoral reflection.

We can look at King Saul and readily conclude that his defiance destroyed him. His self-absorption owned him. We can look at King David and conclude that the appetites of his flesh got the best of him. Both grieved God deeply.

But there is another way we sometimes grieve the Spirit of God. And sometimes, tragically, we even distance ourselves from Christ—not because we are consumed with power like Saul or overcome by the appetites of the flesh like David, but because we are profoundly disillusioned by the way we have experienced the people of God.

You hear it in the despair and discouragement of many younger people. You hear words like deconstruction. Certainly, there are those whose hearts have become hard and who have chosen defiance, much like Saul. But often the story is different.

Sometimes the cry is simply, “My heart is broken because of the way I have experienced the body of Christ.”

And I understand why.

The church, broadly speaking—not our church specifically, but the church as a whole—has at times manifested its own love for power, prosperity, self-preservation, or exclusivity. And sometimes the result is that tender seekers, people who genuinely want Jesus, finally say, “I’m done.”

The effect can be a distancing from Christ, not because they have stopped caring, but because they have been wounded by those who bear his name.

If you are in that place of doubt, discouragement, or disillusionment, let me say this as plainly and pastorally as I can:

I’m so sorry that the church has hurt you.

I see it. I grieve it. And I understand why it has made you question.

But I plead with you: don’t give up on Jesus.

Cling to Jesus.

In him is our hope. As Hebrews 6 reminds us, we have this hope as “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” Jesus is that anchor.

The world will let you down. The church will let you down. People will let you down. Jesus will never let you down.

So cling to him. Stay with him.

Let him heal you. Let him encourage you. Let him nurture you. Let him pour his mercies over you.

And wherever you may be in your journey, whatever has happened to you, whatever disappointment or wound you carry, hear my plea:

Do not give up on Jesus.