Many years ago I saw Christopher West speak. He goes around and gives talks and conferences pertaining to the "Theology of the Body" of Pope John Paul II. There was a point in time during his talk when he was addressing the issue regarding people who become disillusioned with the Church and leave because they feel that some priests are hypocrites. First of all, there are many priests who are NOT hypocrites. Furthermore, nobody, not even a priest, is perfect. Ultimately, when it comes to anything from Church teaching to little tidbits of secular wisdom, the message is generally a good one. It's just the messenger who is flawed.
Christopher West used the example of a doctor. If your doctor gets sick, do you cancel all future appointments and tell him that he's no longer your doctor? Do you then proceed to avoid going to any doctor's office ever again for the rest of your natural life? All because your doctor came down with a sickness?! How about if a grossly obese doctor advises a slightly overweight patient on what kind of diet they should follow to get back to a healthy weight? Does this mean that the patient should immediately go home and do everything exactly opposite to the doctor's advice?
It makes about as much sense to judge the Church in the same manner. Priests are people who are just as prone to sin as the rest of us. They may be flawed as messengers but their message is good and true. In the same way it makes no sense to give up on all health care because you found out that doctors get sick, it also makes no sense to give up on the Church because you found out that priests fall into sin. So if you've stepped away from the Church, I encourage you to give it another go. You might want to start seeing your doctor again as well while you're at it.
Matthew 23: 1-12
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