Why Is Christianity So Detestable to So Many People?
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“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” (John 15:18-19).
Christianophobia. Technically, it means the fear of Christians, of the Christian faith and its beliefs. In practice though, it means hate. The hate of all things Christian. Anti-Christian sentiment has led to persecution of Christians throughout history – and, of course, remains pervasive even today. Possibly you didn’t know there was even a word for it – but you know it exists.
The Rise of Christianophobia
It is no secret that the anti-Christian crusade began immediately upon inception of the Christian movement. It wasn’t only the Jews – led by Saul, who later became Paul, the Apostle – who persecuted Christians. The entire Roman Empire viewed Christians with suspicion, leading Emperor Nero to put many to death for their faith.
Today the persecution continues, especially in countries like China, North Korea, and middle eastern countries controlled by Islam and Sharia Law, where Christians can be put to death for their faith. I read recently a quote from Billy Graham that said, to paraphrase, more Christians have been persecuted and killed for their faith in the last 100 years than in all the centuries prior.
Naturally, this should come as no surprise to any reader of the gospels. Jesus warned us some 2000 years ago that his followers would be hated and persecuted:
“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… Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father” (John 15:18-19, 23-24).
And here in the United States is there any doubt that the anti-Christian furor and fervor has risen to a fever pitch? A “Christianophobe” hates Christians, hates the message, and despises what Christians stand for.
Certainly, Christian beliefs are presented in the most extreme and biased manner. The belief that homosexuality is Biblically sinful is labeled as homophobia, or hatred for homosexuals. An anti-abortion/pro-life belief is labeled as misogynist, or hateful of women. Christians who assert Biblical faith and declare Jesus as the only way to salvation are declared intolerant, arrogant and even hostile toward other beliefs. And Christians who proclaim Christ are deemed to be trying to force our beliefs on others, including our children, through brainwashing.
Yet – our objective is only to save the lost and introduce them to Jesus and the eternal life he offers:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).
Why Such Hatred?
We live in the land of liberty and religious freedom – yet even in the US we can sometimes experience extreme anti-Christian actions, and often what amounts to suppression of the freedoms of speech and religion we thought we could take for granted. Simply look at the baker who was targeted by the LGBTQ community for refusing to bake a cake to celebrate a gay marriage. One need only to look at the intensely hateful comments on social media – with trolls that follow and comment on even plainly Christian sites and posts. Their intent on following such can be for only one reason – to spew hate.
But why such vitriol? Well, there are many answers, and like a spider’s web, many of these seem to be interconnected.
1. Casual Christians
It is all too prevalent today: people who go to church, proclaim their love of God and faith in Jesus, but then go out and live their lives like the rest of the world. Casual Christians go by the name, but their beliefs are nothing more than a small part of their lives. Things of the world still mean more to them than their faith and they do not prioritize that faith in any way, shape or form. At church they will sing out and nod their heads during the sermons – then go out the door and flip off the guy who cut them off on the way home. The world sees no difference in them from the rest of the world – and they don’t care. They’re great at talking the talk, but simply don’t walk the walk.
Author Brennan Manning is known to have 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 what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
In other words, casual Christianity leads to Christian hypocrisy, which leads to people rejecting Jesus.
To get personal for a moment, I am quite familiar with the casual Christian since for most of my life it was me. I was raised in the Catholic church, and never a day in my life passed that, if asked if I believe in God, would my answer have been anything but a resounding yes! I believe in God and I believe that Jesus died for our sins! I knew verses from the Bible from listening to sermons – not because I studied Scripture. Yet it all had zero impact on how I lived my life. That is, until he opened my eyes to the truth.
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of false disciples, who would be denied entry into heaven because they didn’t truly know Jesus – and he didn’t really know them. (Matthew 7:21-23) It might be an important question to ask: who do you think he was referring to?
Jesus taught that people would know we were his disciples by how we loved one another. He said that our unity in him would let the world know God had indeed sent him (John 17:23).
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
2. Liberal Ideology
There are those who hate Christianity because they are far too devoted and loyal to their political beliefs to even consider Christianity. Their mindset will not allow their eyes to be opened to the truth, and they have accepted false gospels, lies and misrepresentations, twisted to fit their predisposed viewpoint. They claim, for example, that the Bible was written by men, or believe distortions such as universalism, that we are “all good people going to heaven,” among others. They believe Jesus to be a fictional character, or choose to dismiss him as a “good teacher” who taught we are not to judge others, without any understanding of Jesus’ actual meaning, or willingness to consider the truth.
While some choose to moralize that Jesus was liberal, he was far from it. Jesus held to the teachings of the Law of God – and professed that he came to fulfill that law, not to do away with it.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).
3. Bad Past Experiences
We all likely know or have heard of people who have had bad experiences in churches. Let’s face it, the evils of a large number of Catholic priests who abused children – especially young boys – are well known to the public eye. The result has been another arrow in the quiver of those who have struggled with faith anyway, and thereby apply the sins of a few to the rest.
Perhaps less serious, but still problematic, many of us have experienced how rude, unloving, unwelcoming and un-Christlike certain people can be. A close relation of mine attempted to join a women’s Bible study at a church near her, and was treated as an intruder into their group, criticized for being too dressy, and looked down upon due to her accent. She never went back.
Others of us have had loved ones fighting – and losing – battles with illness, despite fervent prayer. At those moments, trusting God’s judgement may be a hard thing to help them understand.
“’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
4. Existence of Evil/Suffering
A great many atheists attempt to turn the existence of evil and suffering into an argument against the existence of God. They claim that God cannot be both good and all-powerful – otherwise he would not allow evil in the world if he truly loved us.
Greek philosopher Epicurus put it this way: “If God is unable to prevent evil, then he is not all powerful. If God is not willing to prevent evil, then he is not all-good.”
There is no effort to understand God’s word, free will of mankind and the salvation offered through Christ. They staunchly hold to their position and will hear no argument.
The problem with that thinking is it focuses only on this life – this world – and ignores that we are eternal beings with a life far beyond what this world has to offer. We have so much more in store for us than we can possibly imagine.
“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ - the things God has prepared for those who love him…” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
5. They Don’t Want It to Be True
The great author and speaker Lee Strobel is known to have said that while he was still an atheist – before he thoroughly researched the life, death and resurrection of Jesus – he didn’t want there to be a God, because he didn’t want that moral authority over his life.
How many other atheists feel that way but simply won’t recognize or even acknowledge it? They believe themselves to be “good people” and don’t want or need greater moral authority over their lives. Unfortunately, many will never bother to even look honestly at the truth about Christianity because what they have heard fits how they want to feel about religion. What they don’t realize is that what Jesus Christ offers us is the furthest thing from religion.
“For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16).
6. Christian Fundamentalism
Jesus came in grace and in truth (John 1:17). But too often the message gets muddied with far too much truth and far too little grace. Far too much focus on the rules and the rites and the rituals – and the message of grace never gets heard over the pointing fingers of guilt or screams of “you’re a sinner.” The message of grace and forgiveness gets lost.
Jesus Christ came to die for us while we were still sinners. He died to pay the price for our sin and rose again to defeat death once and for all so we could be with him in eternity. It is by his grace we are saved, receive his Holy Spirit, and live our lives as he teaches and directs us.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Let’s face it, “Christianophobia” – hatred of all things Christian – is real and it is on the rise. And we can expect that it will get much worse as the return of Christ approaches. Ultimately, of course, Satan hates God and his followers and he wants the world to hate them too. In the parable of the sower, Jesus foretold this would happen:
“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path” (Matthew 13:19).
Since Satan is in control of the world in which we live, he will do everything he can to ensure people remain in darkness:
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Most importantly? We all know that ultimately Christians have nothing to fear because greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/katleho Seisa
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.