“And they were all being really Christian…”
That’s something one of my non-Christian friends from university said today, whilst he was telling me about this “strange” thing that was going on at the local. It disturbs me. My friend went on to say that one of his friends went down to the pub for a drink, and was confronted by a load of Christians, “being all preachy and trying to convert everyone.”
What really saddens me about this is that it’s so indicative of how much “Westernised” Christianity has lost the plot in so many ways. The guy wanted to leave when he saw what was going on… why? Because us Christians are great at conveying the whole “holier than thou” thing and so unbelievably rubbish at just living life as we’re meant to and letting our life’s actions be testament to the faith we have.
“Prove to me you have faith when you are doing nothing. I will prove to you I have faith by doing things.”
– James (2:18 - NLV)
Why did James write this? Because it’s important.
Manning put it best:
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
– Brennan Manning
I don’t know where we, as Christians, got the impression we could just preach at people and expect them to change… Maybe if we actually did a good job of reflecting this hope we say we have, then our words would actually mean something to those observing us.
It frustrates me so much that I also can’t just close my mouth at times and just get my act together as the first point. Okay, so I don’t go out and get drunk off my face, or whatnot… but am I really all that different? Do I really reflect the character of the God I claim is so amazing, holy, gracious and loving? Man… it’s tough.
I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on this…