Several members at my church are treating me like I’m no longer wanted there. When I try to talk to them they don’t want to hear it. It is really hard to think of leaving, I’ve been there all my life. My dad was a founding member of this congregation. Should I leave or put up with them?<\/p>\n\t
Several is not all of the members. I don’t know the cause of the trouble, but no matter where you go, you will always find people who do not act as they should. And the reality of the situation is that running away doesn’t solve the problem. Instead, you need to follow the principles God laid out for solving problems:<\/p>\n
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good<\/em>” (Romans 12:17-21).<\/p>\n
“See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:15).<\/p>\n
“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing<\/em>” (I Peter 3:8-9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Several members at my church are treating me like I’m no longer wanted there. When I try to talk to them they don’t want to hear it. It is really hard to think of leaving, I’ve been there all my life. My dad was a founding member of this congregation. Should I leave or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[233,1513],"class_list":["post-35078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-friends","tag-relationships"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43545,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-leave-the-baptist-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":35078,"position":0},"title":"Should I leave the Baptist church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been up since 5 this morning wrestling through scriptures, websites, my pastor's teaching from three Wednesday nights ago entitled \"Is baptism required or necessary for salvation\" and emails from a close friend (who is a Baptist) who is trying to help me study the Scripture.\u00a0 I asked several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-divisive-non-member-be-told-not-to-come-to-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":35078,"position":1},"title":"Should a divisive non-member be told not to come to worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of a church where there is a split of our church family. This revolves around a man (who is\u00a0not\u00a0a member) who has attended this church as a visitor for many years. He stirs up discord within the church habitually. There was a recent incident of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-tell-my-daughters-about-the-abuse-i-suffered-in-the-church-they-attend\/","url_meta":{"origin":35078,"position":2},"title":"Should I tell my daughters about the abuse I suffered in the church they attend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was in a church for 12 years. I left because I was abused there. My two daughters are still there. I am afraid for them. I do not want them trained in this way. Should I tell them the truth? Answer: In some ways, it is hard for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23573,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-stop-treating-my-wife-so-badly\/","url_meta":{"origin":35078,"position":3},"title":"How do I stop treating my wife so badly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We've been together for nearly ten years and for the past several years I've been treating my wife very badly. I say bad things to her and we just don't feel happy around each other anymore. She seems like she's afraid of me. I still love her and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32666,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wise-to-marry-but-have-to-live-with-one-set-of-parents-for-a-while\/","url_meta":{"origin":35078,"position":4},"title":"Is it wise to marry but have to live with one set of parents for a while?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think it is wise that 24-year-olds should get marry while working for a basic wage and may have to live in the same house with the guy's parents for the first year of marriage? Do you think it's a correct move? Mind you both parties are of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45854,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-only-teach-people-who-will-join-the-local-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":35078,"position":5},"title":"Should we only teach people who will join the local congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am writing for some advice.\u00a0 I live in a city and worship just outside the city in a small town.\u00a0 I have a passion for sharing the Gospel with the lost.\u00a0 While at a congregation in the city, I was blessed to share with people who often\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}