All I have to do is look at my own life to realize it’s no wonder why people react so harshly to the word “Christian.” To be honest it’s been a bit humbling thinking about all the times I’ve screwed up. Sometimes in our enthusiasm to talk about God we do it in pretty heavy handed ways. And sometimes those hands come with steel gloves…
And frankly, I’d probably respond that way too if I felt someone was judging me unfairly. It’s hard to build trust with someone when they are already suspicious of your motives. It’s hard for them to let their guard down when they expect to be attacked at any moment.
This presents a serious problem, because the message we need to deliver can be hard to accept. Especially in a world of hyper-rationalism. Things like gods, angels, and demons seem irrational. So how can Christians claim these exist, let alone knowledge of a one true God? Even claiming that is enough to put many people on edge.
And can you blame them? It’s hard to believe in those things. It’s hard to buy into things we can’t always prove with 100% certainty.
That’s why relationships are so important. Relationships build trust. Or perhaps I should say - if you don’t trust someone how do you know they aren’t a crack pot?
For example: who am I more likely to believe? A person I’ve known for years, someone I know is sane, telling me they believe in angels? Or a random person off the street talking about being demon-possessed?
I’ll save you a guess, it’s not even a close contest!
Of course according to Christianity, they may both be right. But I have a hard time believing the person I don’t know. I have no context in which to evaluate his (or her) outrageous claims. And I think when you make outrageous claims you’d better be able to back that up. I also have no reason to spend time evaluating their claim. They are just one more lunatic on a street corner.
Relationships force us to evaluate radical ideas more closely because we have something invested.
It’s no different with our behavior. When we talk about how loving, generous, and forgiving God is, and then turn around and attack people because of their lifestyle, why should they believe us? What possible motivation would they have for trusting us?
There’s a reason that Jesus got under the skin of the religious elite, but was loved by “sinners.” I think maybe we should be a little more like that, and a little less unChristian.
