I give my word, I won’t browbeat anybody. We all work through church burns differently, in our own time, me included. But it is a good thing to consider: if hypocrites are getting between you and Christ, or you and His church, isn’t that an admission that they, the hypocrites, are closer to Christ than you are?

Look, everyone reading this has been burned by a bad relationship. We get it. But that doesn’t negate you from dating again, or getting married, right?

Or did a friend ever do you so wrong that you wondered if you could ever recover? Probably. But despite that hurtful experience, I bet you’ve developed friends you can trust since then.

I’m happy you didn’t let one bad relationship or bad friend tarnish the rest. Had it, think what you would have missed.

In the same way, it’s a sure sad day when bad-behaved Christians keep someone from our sweet Savior Jesus.

Bad behavior by a church leader, or among the flock, saddens God’s heart. It saddens all of our hearts tremendously, too. It only makes sense for you to recoil, pull back, and withdraw, but let me encourage you to only let that last for a season.

Could it be that the Lord is calling you to come back home, soon, despite those family members who make it hard?

Did you know the only time the Bible portrays God running is when He beheld His prodigal child returning home? "While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." —Luke 15:20

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Maybe you’re saying, I’m not like the prodigal son; I wasn’t in the wrong, others were. Ok, fair enough. So be it. But you have walked, or drifted away nonetheless.

Jesus cares so intensely for you, I can picture Him staying the flock with His arm, 99 in all, motioning them to stay put: One of His precious ones has drifted, He goes to find them and will return in a bit.

Don’t you get it? That’s how much He adores you.

As for the 99? They’ll be just fine. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit will keep watch over them while the Great Shepherd is away.

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I’ve heard it said, “I left the church because I found so little grace there. I returned because I found it nowhere else.”

Over the course of my ministry, I’ve also discovered that grace, no place more so than church, settles in the low places.

As Chip Ingram put it, “We are never more like God than when we love those who mistreat us. We are never more like God than when we show grace to those who do not deserve it.”

If God cuts us slack when we’re in the wrong, daily, wouldn’t it only make sense if we did the same? Forwarding grace, we could call it, which sounds pretty good.

The Bible gives no shortage of messages to that end:

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If hypocrites can keep you from Jesus, are they more influential than Jesus Himself? I hope not. But that’s for you to decide.

How about this: will you let me stand in for the person you need to forgive? And then maybe go from there.

After all, I was the one who claimed to care for you, but didn’t bother to pick up the phone and call after you eased away. I didn’t visit the hospital when your family desperately needed me most. Looking back after I learned your spouse deserted you, how could I miss the signs—swollen eyes, writhing hands, anguish of soul.

Then there’s the rehabs, even though I couldn’t breach their doors to encourage your son or daughter, that doesn’t excuse me from not requesting updates, praying to and from work. What the youth leaders did, how they handled that situation, was inexcusable. Nobody had your child’s back, much less yours.

Look. Here’s the thing. Believers need second chances, another shot, deserved or not. Jesus is such a life-giving Savior, a Gentle Shepherd. Everyone hopes you can behold Him unobstructed, by pushing us out of the way.

We’re happy to oblige—hypocrisy and all. Just come back home. You are missed. And if all you can see right now is our failure, then look past us until you see Him—for on one point we can all agree: He did nothing wrong.

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Jesus said, "For those who have ears to hear, let them hear."