My wife and I experienced church hurt at the very first church we joined after becoming Christians. At first, the church we were attending seemed great and they boldly preached the gospel, but they were caught up in certain legalistic issues over how to dress at church. Women were encouraged to wear long dresses down to their ankles and men were encouraged to wear suits. It wasn't an absolute must, but you were looked down on if you did not.
The women who attended that church reminded me of the Stepford wives. There were other things as well that I witnessed going on in that church which resulted from legalistic tendencies and favoritism that led me to turn to my wife during a church service one day and I said, "saved or not saved, people are still people!" I expected much more unity there than I was seeing. We left that church after about a year. Probably should have left sooner.
The women who attended that church reminded me of the Stepford wives. There were other things as well that I witnessed going on in that church which resulted from legalistic tendencies and favoritism that led me to turn to my wife during a church service one day and I said, "saved or not saved, people are still people!" I expected much more unity there than I was seeing. We left that church after about a year. Probably should have left sooner.
One was the Church Warden. I kept going to the Lord about this and one day he showed me something about the Church Warden and how just like me she was so broken and her nasty side was a cover up.
There is always more to people than we first think.
I love the lyrics to one of Dolly Parton's songs "don't judge me by the cover, because I'm a real good book" 🥰