A Letter to the One Who Walked Away from Church:

You didn’t walk away because you stopped believing in Jesus.

You walked away because you weren’t sure you could survive another Sunday.

Maybe it was the shame or the side-eyes.

Or the way people talked about grace, but never seemed to show it.

You showed up hungry and left hollow.

You showed up wounded and left worse.

Eventually, you stopped showing up at all.

So now you’re somewhere in between:

Tired.

Disillusioned.

Numb.

Let me tell you something you need to hear:

Christ never turned you away.

Whatever happened—

abuse, manipulation, guilt tactics, pressure,

That wasn’t the voice of Jesus.

That was broken people.

Let me tell you something that may be hard to hear, but you need to hear it too:

You need the church.

Not because God needs your attendance.

Not because pastors need an ego boost.

Not because you owe it to anyone.

You need the church because it’s where God keeps giving you His grace, week after week.

You need the Word preached to you, not just read on your phone.

You need to be present, not just watching a livestream.

You need other believers—not perfect ones, but fellow sinners clinging to the same mercy.

The church is not where the strong go to prove their strength.

It’s a place where the weak hear a strong Savior.

The church isn’t about getting your act together.

The church isn’t where you go to perform.

It’s about being served by Christ Himself through the ordinary preached Word, and the visible Lord's Supper.

You need that, and so do I.

Don’t hear what I’m not saying.

There are real wounds. There is real church hurt.

But that pain doesn’t mean the whole thing is rotten.

It just means you need a church that knows it’s not your Savior—Christ is.

And if you’ve never had that kind of church before?

Find a local gathering where Christ is actually at the center,

Where the gospel isn’t assumed but announced.

Where you’re not entertained, but fed.

Come back.

Not to prove anything.

Not to serve, but to be served.

Not to try harder, but to rest deeper.

Come back to be kept by the means Christ Himself has given you.