I’m sorry you had a bad experience in this church – but can you honestly say that every church is like this? No, of course not. For every church like this, I could point you to dozens where the people are bound together by their love for Christ and for each other.

No church is perfect, of course; someone has wisely said that if we ever found a perfect church, it would stop being perfect the minute we joined! But God didn’t intend for us to be isolated from other believers, because we need each other. In the midst of life’s struggles, we need the encouragement of other believers, and we need too the spiritual strength we get from public worship. The Bible says, “Let us not give up meeting together… but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day (of Christ’s return) approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

But we also need to let others know about our faith in Jesus – and one of the ways we can do that is by being active in our church. Every day you meet people who don’t know Christ, and yet may be spiritually open to the Gospel. Are you praying for them, and do they see Christ in you?

The real question is this: What does God want to do in your life? The Bible says He wants you to grow closer to Him, and to become more like Christ in your character and your behavior. Ask Him to lead you to a church where this can happen.