Recently on Relevant.com I read an article about how a self professed atheist is defending Christians because he thinks they are getting a bad rap from society. Which is completely true. He thinks that the way media presents them is completely different from the actual Christians in his life. He described them this way, "“The Christians in my life were all incredibly wonderful and thoughtful and had very ambiguous, complicated feelings in their beliefs. And seemed to be totally generous-hearted, and totally open to a lot of different kinds of people in their lives.” I absolutely love that he said this about Christians but it also makes me curious. If even a atheist sees our loving and kind nature, then why aren't more people converted. If our purpose on earth is to love one another, no matter what religious belief a person might defend, and to show God's glory through the way we live our lives, then why aren't there more Christians if we are doing a good job at showing the happiness Christians can have?
It's probably exactly what he's pointing out. People aren't denying Jesus and the happiness of Christians, they're denying the ugly perception of Christians as a subculture. Christians are seen as wacko bigots that hate gays and spend every waking hour in church. People know this is not true but they also know that some people actually prove this right and they don't want to be associated with that stigma.
I couldn't tell you how to fix this. I have no clue. It does really hurt my heart. Jesus doesn't want a reputation, he wants to impact the earth and wants Team God to be successful.
All I know is, even if we aren't making a large positive impact by loving those around us, we still need to. It's the point of our existence. It will make exactly as much of an impact as God wants at this time in history. We never know what God will do in the future. But God wins. And with this realization, we can joyfully be loving and kind, no matter what noise is happening around us.
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/slices/ira-glass-christians-are-horribly-covered-media
It's probably exactly what he's pointing out. People aren't denying Jesus and the happiness of Christians, they're denying the ugly perception of Christians as a subculture. Christians are seen as wacko bigots that hate gays and spend every waking hour in church. People know this is not true but they also know that some people actually prove this right and they don't want to be associated with that stigma.
I couldn't tell you how to fix this. I have no clue. It does really hurt my heart. Jesus doesn't want a reputation, he wants to impact the earth and wants Team God to be successful.
All I know is, even if we aren't making a large positive impact by loving those around us, we still need to. It's the point of our existence. It will make exactly as much of an impact as God wants at this time in history. We never know what God will do in the future. But God wins. And with this realization, we can joyfully be loving and kind, no matter what noise is happening around us.
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/slices/ira-glass-christians-are-horribly-covered-media