Zip made a good point about comparing our sins to someone else's. If we say, I smoke, drink, and over eat...but it's not as bad as so-and-so
who is cheating on his/her spouse, or whatever...the truth is, their sins may be worse, but if you don't take care of your own (weight, smoking,etc) you will die! Their indiscretions will not take care of your lack of self-control.
For example, the 13-yr-old who saw the bad example in church..(as well as the few that wanted to help the homeless man), he chose to perceive ALL Christians as the bad example rather than the good example he saw. So, he stays away from church the rest of his life because of one bad example. Who is the real loser here; the homeless man or the young lad who allowed one bad example to ruin his life.
There are people in churches who are church members and 'think' they are christians because they are members...when, in reality, they have never actually given their hearts to Christ and become a true born-again believer. Those are the people who set bad examples. Unfortunately, unbelievers or impressionable people see it and don't realize the truth.
The sad part is the members who don't realize they are lost.
That happened to me. When I was thirteen I joined a church and because of thinking that was all I needed, it took 13 more years to realize I wasn't born-again. Born-again is something you can't understand until you've experienced it.
I have know may people who are truly 'good' people in and out of churches that think they are ok when the truth is, they are as lost as a goose.
To become born-again you must repent, ask God's forgiveness, and truly give your entire life to him. If you have had that experience, you will never be able to turn your back on someone in need. If someone can, I would doubt their salvation...but not judge an entire church on the behavior of a few hypocrits.
And that's all I got to say about that..