Let’s just say that someone in church, a church, or a religion somehow mistreated you. In so doing, let’s just say that the person who has mistreated you has now misrepresented what you think about Who God is supposed to be. That could be bad, especially if what you think is the same thing that the Bible says about God. Even if the person has offended the truth about God, which is what you believe has occurred, that doesn’t change Who God is. But then there is the whole issue of when you misrepresent God. And perhaps you might be misrepresenting God in the way that you deal with a person who you think misrepresented God. All of this explains why it is that we shouldn’t allow how someone else acts to determine how we live. We should live based upon the Bible. Someone else may not do that. However, if they don’t, what you should try to do is help that person. There’s no way that another person should keep you from living for God just because he hasn’t lived for God. And why would someone turn away from living for the Lord because he is offended that someone didn’t live for the Lord? That is the height of hypocrisy. And it is a lie. It is a total cop-out. People who want to live for the Lord, who will deny themselves and follow Christ, can do that by the grace of God. They don’t do it because they don’t want to do it. No other reason.