Sin.

That’s the cliff notes version, anyway. But we’ll go deeper than that. The problem here is that throughout history there have been some examples of Christians not being altogether Christ-like. A common example is the Crusades, a series of holy wars to conquer the Holy Land (an area in modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan) first sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Pope in 1095 and fought over the next two centuries. Episodes like those, as well as other modern-day happenings, don’t help in providing a clear comprehensive picture of Christ’s love. Looking at these examples only, it’s no wonder that some people are disillusioned with Christianity.

First, a note about the Crusades, as that is a case that requires a bit more explanation. I will not attempt to debate the right or wrong of the Crusades itself, as it was a long and complicated affair and requires some backstory. Depending on who you ask, it was a just, defensive war in response to Muslim encroachment of the Holy Land over several centuries. A point commonly agreed on, though, was that the Crusades had its share of unnecessary brutality outside the defined scope of the war, indeed, as do many wars.

Other examples, while far less likely to leave such a mark on history, are no less talked about today. One only has to hang around the virtual public square of Twitter or other social media sites and eventually they will see a Christian who has not been living up to the standards they have been taught. In a way, all Christians are like that. The Bible makes it pretty clear that nobody is beyond sin (Romans 3:23). If so, Jesus’s death on the cross, a sacrifice for the benefit of sinners, wouldn’t have been necessary. Christians accept that we are in need of a savior no matter what our spiritual growth has been like, as even the most devout Christian is still in danger of sin.

There are two dangerously wrong conclusions people make when faced with these situations. Belief in Jesus means a Christian’s sins have been forgiven in the eyes of God, but it does not take away the fact that the sinning happened, nor by itself does it decrease the chance of future sin. Of course, belief in Jesus usually means sinning occurs less often because Christians know God’s will through Jesus and the Bible. Focusing on the exceptions as society tends to do does not invalidate the integrity of the entire faith – assuming it DOES is the first bad conclusion. It merely confirms a Biblical truth of sinning being universal.

Now, Christians must not fall into the other camp of merely accepting this reality and leaving it at that either. That is the second bad conclusion. ‘I’m not perfect’ is never a valid excuse in Christianity for not attempting to improve. Christianity is a lifelong process of defending oneself from sin and aspiring to the principles in the Bible. We are very fortunate that by grace Jesus allows us to learn, and by His teachings Jesus shows us the path to improve. He is a powerful ally to have in this fight against our sinful selves!

—–

RECOMMENDED READING:

If a powerful and loving God exists, how can evil also exist?
How is the violence in the book of Joshua justified? Touches on the concept of holy wars
If Christians have their sins forgiven, does that mean they can do whatever they want?