It’s Too _____.
ANSWERS TO COMMON CRITICISMS TO CHRISTIANITY
Have you ever known a professing Christian or observed Christianity in our culture and thought to yourself, “Yeah, no thanks.” Yep, me too. To be honest, there are a lot of reasons to reject Christianity. Some reasons hold more weight than others—like the ones that are filled with personal hurt and raw emotion. Other reasons, however, are tossed around as borrowed arguments. They sound catchy, insightful, and believable so we think they must be true. These arguments, though, aren’t as stable as they seem.
1 – IT’S HYPOCRITICAL.
If you think Christianity is full of hypocrites, you’re right. But, there is a difference between the Christian who uses their religion as a pious façade and the one who is humble enough to admit that they should be more like Jesus but they consistently fall short. One is righteous, one is not. Even the apostle Paul wrestles with his own hypocrisy in Romans 7, and his despair ultimately leads him to hope in Christ. The good news is Jesus came to save hypocrites and that includes us all.
2 – IT’S JUDGMENTAL.
Out of all the borrowed arguments, this is one of our culture’s favorites simply because we bristle at being told who we are is wrong. We defend our identity and our choices at any cost even though from time to time we’re prone to making wrong decisions. We don’t always see things clearly or correctly, and Jesus is eager to help. He can’t save us if we insist that we don’t need Him and that we’ve got our lives under control. Would we risk “being judged”—that is, being told that Jesus is right and we are wrong—on this side of heaven if that “judgment” would not just correct our misbehavior but rather save our very soul?
If you think Christianity is full of hypocrites, you’re right.
3 – IT’S CONFUSING.
Many people don’t bother with Christianity because they don’t know where to begin. With numerous church denominations, multiple Bible translations, and the varied content of the Bible itself, it’s difficult to know where to begin. The entire Bible is one cohesive storyline written across thousands of years that explains how broken this world is and Jesus’ plans to fix it. If you need a place to start, read the book of Mark that tells about Jesus’ life on earth or the book of Romans, which describes the good news in relation to the bad news.
4 – IT’S OUTDATED.
A popular argument is that the Bible is no longer relevant because the times have changed. But they really haven’t. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, documents murder, blame-shifting, shame, pride, drunkenness, and sexual perversion (to name a few), which all run rampant today. Scripture is helpful because it shows how predictably wicked the human heart really is. Therefore, if we battle lust, we can learn from King David who did too. If we are impulsive and our mouth gets us in trouble, we can read about Peter and learn from his mistakes. Thankfully, God teaches us through people’s mistakes of the past, which have been documented for hundreds of generations to read.
Scripture is helpful because it shows how predictably wicked the human heart really is.
5 – IT’S CONTROLLING.
Christianity is often accused of being a cult that robs you of your intelligence and ability to make your own decisions.
Unfortunately, it’s true that not all groups labeled “Christian” are well-meaning and biblical. That’s why it’s up to us to be informed and to know what is actually in the Bible and what’s not. If we don’t let Christianity (rather, Christ Himself) control us, something else will— something like education, a spouse, a job, family members, current trends, or social media. Even if you claim that you’re in control of yourself, you make a pretty awful god, and you probably don’t live up to your own rules. Letting Christ control you is actually a good thing because He is good. Everything else will lead you astray.
6 – IT’S FICTIONAL.
For those who must see it to believe it, Christianity is hard to come to terms with because of the many miracles it describes. How can God make everything in the known universe out of nothing? How can Christ be born from a virgin? How can this same Christ be gruesomely murdered and then, three days later, come back to life? Our minds can’t fathom what these events would be like so we call them fiction. They can’t be true. However, we worship a God who is infinitely greater than us, who can know and do infinitely more than us, and that’s a good thing. These miracles shouldn’t turn us away from God but towards Him.
Plenty more could be said about these borrowed arguments, but now it’s your turn. Do your due diligence. Dig deeper into what’s true and what’s not. “Test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21 NLT.