Psalm 5

"But joy for all who take shelter in you,
endless shouts of joy!
Since you protect them, they exalt in you,
those who love your name."
Psalm 5:11

Where do you take shelter?
I had a conversation the other day with someone who felt they had been hurt by the church. It was very painful to them and they weren't sure they could ever go back. As a pastor you might assume that I would either make excusses for the action, appologize for what happened, or simply say that the church was wrong and that they should come to our church because we are different. I didn't do any of those things.
What I did was to say that the church is going to hurt you. It isn't always intentional (though it angers me when it is) and the reality is that given enough time in a church you are going to be hurt. I know I've suffered my fair share of hurts from the church. But those hurts are not God's intention and it simply shows the realty that the church, like the world and all of us who inhabit the earth, are not yet perfect. Should the church be better? YES! Will the church get better at not hurting people? Probably not. So in the mean time we take shelter in God trusting in the one who can bring us joy even in the midst of being hurt by those who should know better.
It also seems to me that churches where there are a lot of people exhibiting characteristics of joy are hurting a lot less people. Is that a coincidence? I doubt it.