5 Reasons Christianity is Suffering
It hasn’t been hard to notice that Christianity seems to be “bleeding out” - you see this thanks to reports after reports of Christian leader’s moral failures, notable Christians leaving the faith, and unfortunately, young people deciding to either resist or leave Christianity altogether. But why is this happening? Why is our faith in the one true living God getting a bad reputation? This is a huge conversation to tackle, but let’s get into five reasons why this is happening and some insights into how we can deal with them.
1.Judgment
This has caused Christianity to suffer simply because we turned our “be holy as He is holy” into “be holy as we are holy”. This is not to say make no judgments at all, but our criteria for what we judge people for and our intentions need to be healthily defined first. Luke 6:41,“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Can you accurately judge yourself? Does the situation call for judgment or a hand of compassion? John 16:8-11, “When he (The Holy Spirit) comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
Allow God to do His work in us as we focus on the work He’s called us to.
2. Lack of Integrity
Because we are Christians, everyone around us has been listening and watching our every word and movement. When we have preached, gone out to eat, posted on facebook, performed at work, stood in line at the grocery store, and even when we go to church. For generations, the church has been called out for being a group of hypocrites. We can talk the talk but we can’t walk the walk. I think the issue comes down to something very simple. Do you love your God enough to obey His commands? Righteousness isn’t obtained, it was given. Salvation isn’t obtained, it was paid for. Life isn’t obtained, it’s lived.
Choose to love God enough to pay attention to what He commands and you’ll not only desire a life of integrity, you’ll live it.
3. Division
For a while, the church seems to be divided. Everyone seems to understand that we really love Jesus and we really love the bible. But it’s everything inside the spectrum of those two things that we will fight each other over. Luke 11:17, “Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” I am a firm believer in the power of unity. Show me two people who are unified in EVERY way and I can show you what heaven is like. Genesis 6:11 “The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” When people see a unified body of believers focused on Jesus and following him there is nothing He cannot accomplish through us.
Unity will define our ability.
4.Moral referees
Often Christianity is viewed as this religion that says no to just about everything. It’s okay to believe something is wrong, a lot of things are! But it’s not okay to condemn someone on the moral ground that you yourself can’t even stand on. Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. That means we have to accept that we are sinners also. As Christians we are called to make disciples, not to referee the moral guidelines. We should be raising a standard for others to aspire to.
Allow God to make the rules, so we can play one heck of a game.
5. Altarless Discipleship
The reality is that nothing matters to someone until there is proof. Until something in their life is compelling enough to bring them to a revelation of the living God and His love for them. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” We cannot win people over with our words or our talents and dashing good looks, rather by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But from there we are called to disciple others. We need to present a life to others that show the power and presence of God in our own lives. We rely on kind words and traditional repetition to convince ourselves we are living according to God’s will. Let me ask you this, do you read your bible? Do you pray? Do you live a life of victory and freedom? Do you desire to see the will of God in your life and others? Our lives should be walking reflections of the power and presence of the living God, and we should be able to teach others to walk in that as well.
Christians should be the leading edge in life. Not because of their agendas, but because of the evident power of God.