I’ve talked with tons of people about their faith and about the Christian faith. As I’ve asked why people don’t trust Christ and the Bible, I’ve seen some trends rise to the surface. At the core of most of these trends is the problem of Christians. Why is this the #1 reason? And how can we do better? I hope this blog will answer these questions for you.
Christ: A Treasure Covered in Filth
If Christ were a million dollars, Christians would be the hideous, reeking, vomit-stained briefcase the money is enclosed in. No wonder people avoid Christ.
The interesting thing is that no one can really say anything bad about Jesus. A lot of people hate Jesus because of Christians, but no one has turned to the four gospels and walked away concluding that Jesus is a bad person.
Another interesting fact is that the bulk of secular society believes he actually lived. Many doubt, but professionals and scholars who have studied the topic all agree that he really did exist, die on the cross, and that many claimed he did miraculous things just as the Bible says. All this is verified by non-biblical texts.
Even if we doubt that the gospels accurately depict what Jesus said and did, the immediate impact of his life is enough to support what the gospels said about Jesus. The 1989 San Francisco earthquake is a great example. Even if we claimed every video and news article of that tragic event were all fake, you could still go to San Francisco and see the damage yourself.
In the same way, the explosion of Christianity after Christ’s death and resurrection with a single unified message points to the accuracy of the gospels.
The Diluted Church
It’s a known fact that persecution causes the church to grow exponentially. Why is this?
I believe one key reason is that persecution concentrates the body of Christ. Here in America (and around the world) there are millions of people who claim to be Christians because they like the idea of Jesus and agree with the existence of God.
However, these people don’t know what it means to follow Jesus and so they live like the rest of the world.
There are also millions of true believers who have fallen back into the patterns of this world. These believers are distracted and can look just like nonbelievers.
The end result is that 9 out of 10 “Christians” a nonbeliever meets behave just like everyone else. Why would a non-Christian believe that Jesus can change their lives when they haven’t seen him change anyone else’s life?
However, you can’t be an apathetic believer in a persecuted church. Either a person will hide their faith entirely, or reject it altogether.
The conclusion of this is that every believer a person meets will be a radical Christian who’s willing to give up everything for Christ. They’ll see a purified form of the church without any fakers diluting the body of Christ.
How could someone doubt the truth of Christ when everyone who follows him is fundamentally transformed?
If Christ were a million dollars, the persecuted church would be the sparkling glass case the money is enclosed in.
How Are Christians Turning People Away From Christ?
If we are the vessel through which Christ is revealed, then it’s absolutely imperative that we live in such a way that (you guessed it) reveals Christ. We do this by living as Christ did. If we live this way, we will no longer be a reason why people don’t trust in Christ.
Jesus went out of his way to love the unlovable. He spent time with sinners and wasn’t concerned with what others might think. He willingly risked his entire reputation to simply love people who needed to be loved.
Jesus comforted the afflicted, championed the oppressed, and courageously called out the sins of the hypocritically pious ruling class.
And, through all of this Jesus lead a moral and pure life. He didn’t cut any corners or compromise on what said is right.
If we want to live lives that cause people to turn to Christ, then we must set aside our goals and ambitions. We must value the needs of others above our own material wants. We cannot get too focused on the goals God’s given us that we forget to love the people we encounter along the way.
Beyond this, we need to show that Christ can transform our lives by truly living moral lives both in public and in private. We need to be faithful to the positions God sets us in, and faithful to the relationships God gives us.
Living this way might sound impossible, and I’m here to tell you that it definitely is. We can’t live the life Jesus calls us to live if we don’t first seek, love, and follow Christ. After all, the whole point of being a Christian is to have a relationship with Christ.
Don’t Be A Reason Why People Don’t Trust In Christ
As easy as it is to live easy and comfortable lives, how could we not live like this? Jesus spent his whole life sacrificing on our behalf so we could enter into a loving relationship with God. How could we not give up these comfortable lives in service to Christ?
We have an eternity with God. So, why not live for that eternity instead of this life? Why not live in such a way that helps others turn to Christ?
In my last blog, I talked about how using God’s name as a curse word is taking his name in vain. Many well-respected theologians argue that the truest and most severe way of taking the LORD’s name in vain is by claiming to be a Christian while living like an unbeliever.
By taking on the name of Christian and then behaving like the world, we are taking on God’s name in vain.
Our decisions and actions impact others. They can either point people to Christ or turn them away from him. I don’t want to be a reason why people don’t trust in Christ, and I know you don’t want to be a reason either.
This is one of the many reasons why we must live wilder.
If you were challenged by this blog, then you will definitely like my last blog: The “Spit On Me Too” Challenge
If you want to know more about how you can draw closer to God, check out my blog How does God Speak to Us?
Wow. I honestly, don’t know what to comment, Philip! This was such a profound post, FULL of ‘drop the mic’ moments and Selah moments as well. You are such a light to this dark world, especially in the blog posts you write! I am so thankful that I get to see them all. By the way, Mrs. Wilder is looking beautiful in the picture, such kindness and compassion in her smile! 🙂
It is unusual to find a jesus worshipper who admits that jesus worshippers are why people want nothing to do with worshipping jesus. You made a great start, and then like so many xtians who stick their head in the sand with excuses, proceed to stick your head in the sand.
Yes, one of the prime reasons people want nothing to do with christians is their blatant hypocrisy, hatred, judgements and willful ignorance,
Living a good and moral life does nothing if it comes from a place of spiritual elitism. which describes almost every evangelical and xtian out there,
“oh that poor sinner is going to hell because they dont believe / think / act like I do. if only they were righteous and knew jesus like i do.”
Its not an actual good and moral life to hold such judgements about peoplenfor simoly being different.
Even the biblical jesus was clear in stating there were believers who werent jewish .. eg, different …. but this salient fact is lost in all the self righteous bible thumping.
if i meet a self proclaime xtian my first response is always to raise shields. always. xtians have been the singular most source of pain in my life.
doesnt mean all xtians are bad people. some really make the effort. yet even those are still so self righteous in their idea of going to heaven and others to hell that the goods they do are questionable.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. Your thoughts and feelings are valid. I do not believe I’m going to heaven because I’m a good person and others are going to hell because they aren’t as good as me. The Bible makes it pretty clear (through John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, and many more verses) that the sole determiner of who will go to heaven is not based on our merit, but based on whether or not we’ve accepted Jesus’ offer to bear our sins upon himself on the Cross. It’s not about how good a person is, it’s simply about whether or not we’ve said “yes” to God through Jesus.