by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
Meditate on this thought:<\/p>\n
“What I believe about God’s word is more important than how people treat me.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Many people will leave churches where they are mistreated and start worshiping with a friendly church that practices and teaches things contrary to what they believe. Whether they want to admit it or not, how they are treated is more important than what they believe.<\/p>\n
This might sound harsh, but isn’t loving others as Jesus loved us a “new commandment<\/em>” (John 13:34-35) that churches should and must follow? Yes, but even if I am the only one, I can still practice that toward those who do not love me back while still practicing what I believe.<\/p>\n
The reason I know that is better than partnering with a friendly church that practices what I know is unscriptural is simple. What did Jesus do? He gave his life, and when we live it, divine love has the power to change others as it changes me. So stay and change the culture while staying true to what you believe.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry Hall Meditate on this thought: “What I believe about God’s word is more important than how people treat me.” Many people will leave churches where they are mistreated and start worshiping with a friendly church that practices and teaches things contrary to what they believe. Whether they want to admit it or not,…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[515,152],"class_list":["post-69676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-priorities","tag-social-activities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/seeker-friendly-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":69676,"position":0},"title":"Seeker-Friendly Churches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall \"How can we get the unchurched to come to church?\" This important question was asked by a certain soon-to-be \"mega-church\" Pastor. His answer came from listening to the radio. Soon, his church was modeling its worship services after what the world liked in music. Their attendance grew.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33715,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/canceled\/","url_meta":{"origin":69676,"position":1},"title":"Canceled!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant During our recent Christmas holidays, several churches around the country canceled their Sunday services. Some of the statements made by church spokesmen probably revealed more than they realized, as they not only reflected an attitude towards the mistaken idea concerning the birth of Christ but an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19690,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-christians-in-all-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":69676,"position":2},"title":"Are there Christians in all churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend that is a member of a denominational church. I am a member of Christ's church. We had a discussion about Christians. I told her that she is not a Christian because she has not been added to the Lord's one and only church of Christ.\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":2168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-a-church-splits-who-is-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":69676,"position":3},"title":"When a church splits, who is right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Catholic. I understand that my religion is kind of looked down on by the church of Christ. I am wondering how many churches of Christ are doing what is being asked for in the Bible? Recently a church in my town split up over an issue\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":19349,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-kind-of-church-i-should-attend-to-learn-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":69676,"position":4},"title":"What kind of church I should attend to learn the truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering what kind of church I should attend to learn the truth. I used to go to the Salvation Army. I just want to make sure that when I start this path I take the right road. Answer: I don't know how well you'll accept my answer\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":92017,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-you-a-member-of-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":69676,"position":5},"title":"Why Are You a Member of the Church of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Vance E. Trefethen via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, September 1992 A full-page ad for the book \"Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ\" recently caught my eye, with its bold headline: \"Now Is the Time to Act.\" Much of the message carried in this conservative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69676","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=69676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}