This post is inspired by Amy Orr-Ewing's book "Is Believing in God
Irrational?" Chapter 6. Most of it is her ideas, some are mine. Please see all the chapters in the post "Is
Believing in God Irrational?" for the full picture.
Ch6) Why are Christians so bad?
Many people object to the Christian faith based on the hypocrisy of Christians they know or hear of: Clergy that sexually abuse children, megachurch pastors that cheat on their wives, televangelists with private jets, Christian neighbors who shun them with elitist morality, and just people who claim they're Christian but act like everyone else. If God is supposed to transform lives, why don't we see that in Christians? The failure of some to follow Jesus's moral teaching might be evidence against the validity of the Christian faith, against God himself.
Unfortunately Amy bounces around a lot between different arguments of quite different types. I'll try to separate them here and make my own comments.
a) First of all, let me clarify two things:
i) The idea called into question here, what lies at stake, is whether or not God transforms lives. His existence, the actions of Jesus, the truth of the moral codes he taught, and other facts are not at stake. Transformed lives are simply another piece of evidence in favor of Christianity, and their lack only calls into question the claim that God transforms. It's like the wind: if someone claims it turns windmills and it doesn't seem to, that doesn't defeat wind, because we might feel it on our face too. However, if the bible claims that Christians should be transformed and they aren't, there's a lot more ground to question the rest of it, simply because if we lie in one place, we're probably wrong in another too (though other things like Gods existence can be independently verified).
ii) Doing good things is completely not the point. Jesus came to "seek and the save the lost" (Luke 19:10). And he said himself "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." (Matt 9:12). We Christians are sick, messed up people who need help. That's why we trust in Jesus instead of trying to make it our own way. Unfortunately many people (including myself from time to time) fall into the trap of thinking that we can earn our way into heaven by doing good things. Nope. If that were the case we're all doomed. 1 John 4:18 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Following Jesus is not for perfect people. If you're perfect, you don't need him (but no one is). People aren't supposed to have their act together before they come to God, but hopefully start improving after.
b) Christians do not claim that they will be transformed into good people immediately or perfectly
i) First of all, let me say again that we begin as sinners needing a savior, and never stop needing Jesus - ever. Even when he brings us to heaven.
ii) Sanctification (become a better person) is a process. Philippians 1:6 "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." So, don't expect Christians to be perfect right away.You can't build a house by snapping your fingers.
iii) This process of sanctification is not easy, it's a struggle, and sometimes we backslide. Paul tells Timothy to "Fight the good fight of faith." So in a fight you win some and you lose some. Eventually you will win the war, but there are individual battles that you might lose. Even great leaders in the bible fell sometimes. David was said to be a man after Gods own heart, often looked to as a model of devotion. However even he fell to murdering Uriah in order to sleep with Uriah's wife Bathsheba.
iv) The 1 John 4 passage, saying we can never claim to be without sin, implies that we will not be without sin until Jesus comes back at least. So no matter what a Christian can never be perfect until Jesus comes back and we should never expect them to be without mistake.
c) Christians are not supposed to be perfect, yet most people (including me) still feel like there's something missing. God is supposed to transform us right? Doesn't somebody get it right? Why do we hear of so many catastrophic failures?
i) First of all, for the perfect example look to Christ himself. He's not with us on earth right now unfortunately, but look at the bible. His behavior was perfect. Gandhi said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." (from the book). The goal of the Christian walk is to be like Christ. 2 Cor 3:18 "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
ii) So how should we look for transformation? First of all, look for effort. Is the person honestly trying to improve, to treat people with respect, to be a man or woman of integrity? Again, people backslide, but the point is they mainly fight to be like Christ. Now, any of you Christians reading this who are satisfied there, shame on you. We alone are not fighting this battle. Many non-believers also try to be good people. That's what all the self-help books, yoga, meditation techniques, etc are for. In fact, that's what all other religions are for. All other religions save Christianity have humans trying to reach, control, or appease God, not God coming down, humbling himself, and dying for humans. So we ought to see more change than simply effort. One easy way to quantify this might be looking at the long-run. I admit my lack of research here, but I'll bet most people who try self-help programs don't stick with it very long, moving on to something else or giving up on those sorts of things for a while. Christians, on the other hand, have the holy spirit inside of them. As long as they have approached the Gospel recognizing they need a savior and have accepted Christ for real, not just as a moral code to follow, relying on Gods help and not their own effort, they should stick with the fight until they die. Go see if that's true. (Unfortunately there are so many people who call themselves Christians and really don't believe at all).
iii) There are quite a few false people who call themselves Christians simply because their parents were, simply because that's what everyone is in America, right?, or simply, because that's what good people are.If that sounds like you let me say, you're missing so much. I'm not here to condemn you, I'm here to beg you, please, dig a little deeper and see what you find. The truth of the gospel transforms your life. Because God has died for you and now fights for you, because he holds your soul in the palm of his hand, you have nothing to fear, nothing to get ticked off about, everything to gain and nothing to lose, and you have him, the holy spirit living inside of you. These truths by Gods spirit, settled down into the soul of a Christian, are what makes them good, loving people, and allows them to give of themselves and serve others repeatedly without needing something in return. Woot Woot!
iv) On a different note, it may seem that many Christians make huge mistakes because those that do are televised and harped upon. Kind of sad, but true. Why do we hate every president we elect? Because we only see the things we disagree with. Why do we only hear of our troops dying in Afghanistan and not all the good they're doing? (FYI I'm against the war - for some reason I just don't tend to talk about politics in this blog). Because that's what people want to see on television. So yeah, some people mess up, but there are a bjillion pastors and individuals who don't make such spectacular mistakes (and quite a few who do but just aren't in public positions).
