Christianity is one of the largest religions in the entire world, and 32% of the global population consider Christianity the truth and way of life. If Christianity preaches love and forgiveness, why are some Christians still persecuted?
Jesus Christ preached that people will know his disciples because they would love one another. If Christians behave badly or in ways that don’t reflect Christ’s words, it splashes doubt on those who don’t know Him. If Christians claim they follow Christ with their words, but their actions and words don’t follow, the world will see them as no different than non-Christians.
The Rise of Christianophobia
There are numerous reasons why Christians are perceived poorly, not just today but throughout history. One of them is Christianophobia. In practice, Christianophobia is hate towards all things Christian. This, however, is nothing new and has been happening for centuries. A majority of the Roman Empire persecuted and viewed Christians with suspicion and hatred. Many leaders had put them to death, such as Saul who later became Paul the Apostle, and Emperor Nero who was infamous for burning Christians alive in response to the burning of Rome in 64 AD.
Today persecution and hatred hasn’t stopped, and it is ongoing. especially in countries like North Korea and Afghanistan, where Christians can be put to death for their faith. The persecution hasn’t ended, nor has the pure hatred. This however should be no surprise to those who have read the Gospels where Jesus had warned us his followers would be hated and persecuted for following him.
In the Gospel of John 15:18-19 Jesus says, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you…”
Christian beliefs today are often presented in a biased and far fetched manner. Christians are called to proclaim the good news of Christ, and as they do so they are deemed as “forcing religion” on others. The belief of homosexuality being Biblically sinful is labeled as homophobic. An anti-abortion belief is labeled as hateful of women and misogynistic. Yet the objective of Christians is to save and lead people to Jesus.
Now, not all accusations of Christians are entirely incorrect.
1.Casual Christians
We live in a world where sin is normalized. Sexual immortality, gossip, idolatry, and material possessions are all normalized sins today. Many Christians don’t think or believe they are sinning because they simply don’t know. Casual Christians are the people who go to church, praise God’s name and love for Jesus, then turn around and live their life like the rest of the world. Casual Christians simply go by the title and their faith is only a small part of their lives. Society and the world sees them no differently than everyone else.
Author Brennan Manning once said“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is, an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” In summary, living like a casual Christians leads to hypocrisy, ultimately leading people to reject Jesus.
The Bible also recognizes many people who profess to be Christians, claiming they follow Christ, but don’t truly live like one. These people are false prophets. Mentioned throughout the Bible, one example landing in the book of James. In James 2:9, it is written, “ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show partiality, you sin…”
Christ said that his tree will be known by its fruits, if we don’t see the fruit in the lives of those who love and profess Him, that ends up sending the wrong message to those who don’t follow Jesus.
2. Religious Trauma and Questions of Faith
It is well known that the church might not be the perfect place, especially with the stories of those who have been hurt by the church, or someone within the church. Even as kids, people are born into the Christian faith but end up leaving from bad experiences.
Christians are nowhere near perfect individuals, but society places them on a pedestal and holds them to a higher standard. Christians can be judgey, and when encountering people like that it doesn’t send a great message, and can lead someone to rejecting the faith. In many cases it seems people leave the Christian faith because they asked for something of God and God didn’t “answer” them. Or at least it was the answer they didn’t want or expect.
Many people have experienced losing a loved one. In specific cases when people pray for God to save them or help them, and that person ends up dying, they blame God and lose their faith in him. At the time, they didn’t stop to think that the person dying could be the best option. Many people leave the faith due to the loss of a loved one. In hard moments of your life, it might seem overwhelming and difficult to trust in God’s plan. That is okay because we are only human, that is why God wants us to call on him in those moments to provide hope and comfort in him.
3. Existence of Suffering
A great number of atheists follow the argument of “If God is real then why is there evil and suffering in the world?” If God is an all powerful God, then he wouldn’t allow evil in the world.
The simple answer would be God gave us free will. There isn’t evil and suffering in the world because of God, that is the fault of human kind. That is a common misconception. These evils of the world are not what God had intended for us, but the disobedience of humans created a divide between God and humanity.
Then why doesn’t God stop the suffering? Well the Christian belief is that God created humans to live in relationship with him.In the very beginning, the book of Genesis opens with the creation of the world and humans. God created humans in his image. He created Adam and Eve, and gave them everything they needed. He also gave them free will. The two of them disobeyed God’s order and as a result disobedience, humans suffer.
True Meaning
Christianity teaches that God sent Jesus Christ his son to save humanity from sin and suffering. To do that he suffered and died for us. Humans are given the option to live in relationship with God because the suffering experienced on earth won’t compare to the eternity spent with him. Of course this isn’t the most suitable answer for unbelievers, but it is Christian belief.
In reality “Christianphobia” and false recognition of Christianity is on the rise. It will never truly go away. Non-Christians criticize Christians because their beliefs and morals don’t align with their own.
For years Christianity has been falsely perceived. Christianity doesn’t mean that believers must be completely perfect, like Christ. Christianity is accepting God and becoming a better person. Christianity isn’t for good people, it is for bad people who want to be better. Jesus’ whole ministry was assisting the outcast and sinners of society. That is why Christianity is so good. It offers transformation and hope for everybody.
