One day, talking to a brother in Christ, we were talking about how scandals have increased in the evangelical environment, so he commented on the difficulty of motivating or re-evangelizing people who have experienced one of these scandals closely.

We know that the main reason for this difficulty in re-evangelizing these people is that these people believed in the men who led their churches and had them as examples to be followed, so they were greatly frustrated and terribly discouraged.

During the conversation, I remembered that I know some people who a few years ago experienced scandalous situations, and to this day these people have not been able to overcome their disappointments and are weak in faith.

Maybe you're talking to yourself right now: "It's just that these people shouldn't have put their faith in the man". And perhaps you have remembered the Bible verse:

Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

If you think that way, you are not wrong to a certain extent, because we should never put our faith in man, because as the Word of God guides us, our faith must be in the Lord who created heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

But, you have to understand that some of these people may be new in the faith and are still learning to have a life with God, so everything is still very new for them or they are spiritually immature people, who although they are old in their conversion, are completely misguided in their faith.

Some people may be living the first love of the gospel, when they understand that God is a present God, that he is in the among us and that we can have great experiences with Him and with his Spirit, but because they are still neophytes, they do not have the understanding necessary to discern the facts in a spiritual way.

It's terrible, but for some of these people it's like "the ground has been taken from them" and they may be asking themselves:

And now where am I going?
Who am I going to believe?
If I can't trust pastors, then who can I trust?
What should I do now?

Know that it is really not easy to experience situations like this and remember that Jesus prophesied these events in the gospels:

Matthew 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

Unfortunately, what Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 is happening in our day and it's been a while, but we must look to God and understand that in Him are all our hopes and that He will never fail to fulfill His Word. HE DOES NOT FAIL.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

If you are one of those who are frustrated with the various scandalous situations in churches, do not be discouraged, do not stop going to a church, seek in prayer the necessary guidance from God, for surely God will not let you go wrong.

Meditate daily on the Word of God, because it will strengthen you, get closer to the Lord, understanding that man can make mistakes, but God does not make mistakes.

Man may be a lie, but GOD AND HIS WORD WILL ALWAYS BE THE TRUTH, unequivocally. BELIEVE IT!

The Lord bless you and keep you.

Pastor Val Martins