“If Christianity is true why are not all Christians obviously nicer than all non-Christians? … If conversion to Christianity makes no improvement in a man’s outward actions — if he continues to be just as snobbish or spiteful or envious or ambitious as he was before — then I think we must suspect that his ‘conversion’ was largely imaginary… Fine feelings, new insights, greater interest in ‘religion’ mean nothing unless they make our actual behavior better; just as in an illness ‘feeling better’ is not much good if the thermometer shows that your temperature is still going up. In that sense the outer world is quite right to judge Christianity by its results. Christ told us to judge by results. A tree is known by its fruit… When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world.”
– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
One of my favorite Christian apologists, Dr. Frank Turek, often says that the biggest problem with Christianity is Christians. I agree with Dr. Turek, and most reasonable Christians would agree as well. As Christians, we are called to be holy, to be “set apart,” even to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.1 Nevertheless, John writes that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.2 Further, Paul lets us know that there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…3
So, even as we are being sanctified,4 we frequently fall short. While called to be slow to speak, slow to anger,5 we tend to be quick to speak, and quick to become angry. While called to tame the tongue, we let both blessing and cursing flow forth from the same mouth.6 While called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us,7 we instead love those who love us, and go on dismissing, and sometimes even berating, our enemies.
Because we fall short, as Lewis puts it, we can make Christianity seem unbelievable to the outside world. As I talk with different people about their beliefs and world views, I am overwhelmed (though not necessarily surprised) at the number of times I am told that their Christian friends, Christian family members, and even Christian churches have turned them off to the idea of Christianity entirely. This is very unfortunate, yet consistent with the fact that as Christians, we are not always “Christ-like.”
So yes, Christians are called to be set apart and to walk in the way Christ walked. And yes, if Christians behave “poorly,” those who do not believe may be inclined to dismiss Christianity entirely. There is, however, yet another dimension to consider… a disclaimer, if you will. The outside world may not always be accurately assessing the Christian.
What I mean is this:
It is one thing (Situation A) for Believer A to act in a way that runs counter to what Jesus teaches, and for Unbeliever A to disapprove.
It is something categorically different (Situation B) for Unbeliever B to disapprove of Believer B who acts in accordance with what Jesus teaches.
Unbeliever A showcases a sensitivity to error and hypocrisy, noticing an undesirable discrepancy between what Christ teaches and what Believer A practices. Unbeliever B simply disapproves of Christ Himself, as He is represented in the life of Believer B. Everyone is, of course, welcomed and encouraged to continue reading. However, the exhortation that follows really only makes sense in the context of Situation A.
The goal of the exhortation is to urge the unbeliever to look beyond the Christian… to look at the evidence, to look at the claims, and to examine Jesus Himself and what he actually taught before deciding to write Christianity off. As Dr. Turek puts it, “Christianity is not Christians. Christianity is Jesus.”
To The Unbeliever:
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
– C.S. Lewis
Lewis highlights the fact that many people find themselves resting intellectually in a place that is inherently “unstable,” and, in fact, nonsensical. His assertion is based on a fundamental principle of philosophy called “the law of excluded middle,” which states that a proposition must be either true or false. Another related fundamental principle, “the law of non-contradiction,” states that a proposition cannot be both true and false. Together, these laws reflect reality itself. From them, we can reason that the claims of Jesus, like any others, are either true or false. So, what kinds of things did Jesus claim?
- He is the Messiah, the Christ (John 4:25-26)
- He is one with the Father (John 10:30)
- He has authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10)
- He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6)
- He will judge the world (John 5:22)
- He would be killed and then rise from the dead (Mark 8:31)
- He gives eternal life (John 10:28)
The religious leaders of Jesus’s day knew that He ultimately claimed to be God incarnate:
“The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.‘”
– John 10:31-33
So, clearly, Jesus made some eye-opening claims. Like any others, these claims are either true or false. Either Jesus is who He says He is, or He is not. Each of us must decide, in light of the evidence we have been given, what to do with Jesus. If He is telling the truth (His claims are true), then He is one with our creator, He did rise from the dead to save us from our sins and to give us eternal life, and He will ultimately judge the world, and no one will enter into the kingdom of heaven except through Him.
Claims this bold have big implications and ought to be explored and considered thoroughly before being dismissed or rejected. A couple of other Christian men older and wiser than me frame the exhortation this way:
“…I’ve seen that the evidence is He lived a sinless life, He taught amazing ethical teachings like the Sermon on the Mount, He died forgiving His enemies, and He rose from the dead 3 days later… I have repeatedly said, ‘Do not believe in Jesus because I do. You’d be a fool to believe in Jesus because I do… Instead, I’ve pleaded with people, ‘Read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, for yourself.’ And ask yourself, ‘Does the historical evidence of the way He lived, taught, died, and rose from the dead, point to Jesus being reliable, or not?’ And you decide for yourself.”
– Cliff Knechtle, Study the Gospels for Yourselves
“When Jesus was alive on the earth, He said a statement that to this day is very controversial. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No human being can come to God but through me.’ Jesus said something that was very exclusive, that the only pathway to God was through Him. Jesus also told us that there is only one God, who is Yahweh, and that there is no other God, and that any other god is an idol and is not a true God… we have to make a decision. ‘Was Jesus telling the truth, or was Jesus a liar?’ … If Jesus is credible, then there is only one God, and the scriptures gave us His name. He is Yahweh… If Jesus is credible, there is no other God but Yahweh. If Jesus is credible, there are no ‘multiple pathways’ to God, except through Him. If Jesus is credible, then the pathway to God is small, narrow, and exclusive — if Jesus is credible… The decision we have got to make is, ‘Is Jesus credible?’”
– Phillip Anthony Mitchell, Is Jesus Credible?
Over the course of many years, I have plumbed the depths of the evidence for the truth of Christianity, and I have been thoroughly convinced. From the strong, irrefutable philosophical and logical arguments to the remarkable reliability and preservation of the Biblical text, from the countless archaeological and historical discoveries to the timeless wisdom found within the pages of scripture, from simple observation of the marvels of life, nature, and creation as a whole to the experiential evidence of a real relationship with Jesus, the evidence is truly overwhelming.
So, in summary, the exhortation is this: please do not dismiss Christianity based on some prior experiences with Christian friends, families, or even churches. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Regardless of what Christians do, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.8 A life is far too precious, and salvation far too important, and Jesus far too wonderful, and the truth of Christianity far too rich, for anyone to be robbed of it all based on encounters with mere humans who are poorly representing Christ.
“When somebody plays Beethoven poorly, who do you blame? You don’t blame Beethoven. You blame the player.
So when somebody plays Christ poorly, who do you blame? You don’t blame Christ. You blame the people that play Christ.
And none of us as Christians play Christ perfectly. We’re all fallen. If we weren’t fallen, we wouldn’t need a savior.”
– Dr. Frank Turek, Christianity is Jesus
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