Eli Saw Her

This is Part 5 of a 12-Part Series on Church Hurt

For the sake of simplicity, in this series, I am typically going to refer to any place of worship as a "church" and any type of leader as a "pastor" and/or "priest".

"Eli answered, 'Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.'

She said, 'May your servant find favor in your eyes.' Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.'" - 1 Samuel 1:17-18

Eli had no way of knowing what Hannah was so desperately praying about, but when he realized she was in pain and grief, he expressed compassion for Hannah - whatever it might have been. And that was the "cure" for Hannah's grief; the remedy for Hannah's "church hurt" was being seen and acknowledged by the church leadership.

Hannah's circumstances hadn't changed at that point; she was still infertile and childless. Her prayer had not been answered yet ... but she was no longer grieving. She had experienced healing and hope simply by receiving a tiny bit of compassion and affirmation from the male leadership in the church.

Eli had seen her, acknowledged her, and affirmed her. And she felt different. "Church" felt different!

People need acknowledgment! They need to feel seen and accepted, just the way they are!

I have noticed a tendency when pastors are making references to God as "our Father" for them to very openly acknowledge - and almost "apologetically" address - the fact that the use of the metaphor of God as a Father figure throughout Scripture as well as from the pulpit can be very difficult for someone who grew up without a positive father figure. Or to acknowledge that, in the past, Scripture has been used and abused to justify physical abuse disguised as "discipline". Just ackowledgment that these have been issues and could be a potential stumbling block for some people is incredibly affirming for people who have experienced it. And people who have experienced other types of "church hurt" need that same type of affirmation as well!

The church has been committing the same sins - not just for decades, not just for centuries, but for millenia!! ... Including misinterpretation, miscommunication, and misapplication of Scripture, mishandling of resources, abuse of power (particularly sexual abuse), and compliance with all of these by those in power for failing to address any of it. While churches have had a tendency to avoid talking about these issues (they are frequently "the elephant in the room"), God has no trouble exposing them! He made sure they were recorded and documented in Scripture - as early as roughly 1100 BC/BCE!

During my lifetime, I have observed a new type of sin, denial, and resulting "church hurt" going on within the church. Ever since the "Moral Majority Movement" in the late 1970's and early 1980's, the church has had a tendency to align itself with the Republican Party and conservative, Republican politics. The problem is, as I mentioned in the very first post in this series, there is no perfect political party - because there are no perfect people. And in the same way that church leaders have had a tendency to overlook certain things within the church - even very grievous things - there has also been a tendency to overlook certain problems within the Republican Party, its leaders, and/or its platform.

For the church to align itself with a political party, a particular political party candidate, or a political movement is idolatry! Within the church, we might refer to it as preaching and teaching (or at the very least believing and practicing) "The Gospel + ". ... "The Gospel + conservative politics", "The Gospel + the Republican Party", "The Gospel + Donald Trump". It was not at all unusual during the 2020 election cycle to hear Christians publicly or privately accusing other Christians of "not being a real Christian" if they didn't support Donald Trump or the Republican Party. Many Christians went so far as to privately or not so privately accuse anyone who did not support Donald Trump or the Republican Party of being "evil", "wicked", "dangerous", or adhering to "heresy".

Jesus made it very clear that He did not come to provide political resolution to our problems; He came to provide spiritual ones. ... God is not a Republican! (or a Democrat!)

But while churches may not have gone so far as to add it to their Statement of Beliefs, many have intentionally or unintentionally, verbally or nonverbally, created a church environment that has been at the very least politically alienating and at the very worst politically hostile for some of it's most loyal and devout believers. And that has created a whole new category of "church hurt".

After the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol, there was a sudden - and sometimes deafening - silence. After decades of telling believers how they should vote - almost demanding it at times - the church has been suddenly silent, never really acknowledging it, addressing it, or apologizing for the "church hurt" it has caused. There seems to be an unspoken agreement to just disregard "the elephant in the room" ... but just like with Hannah, healing requires acknowledgment.

© I Lift My Voice, 2025

Click Here to Read Part 6 in This 12-Part Series on Church Hurt