Is Christianity unpopular these days?
When some people hear the word “Christian”, they mentally erect red flags and an alarm like the minion alarm sounds goes off in their brains. Next, comes an almost impenetrable emotional wall protecting them from all things “Christian“. Have you noticed this happening to you as well? Christian Woman, you tell them you’re a Christian nowadays and they look away as though some imaginary person is calling their name or they begin stirring their coffee very slowly. Is there an unpopular Christianity going on now? Has it always been? These days, you can almost see it occurring little by little in songs, television shows, and more. Christians are being portrayed as weird social pariahs. Unpopular Christianity is a “thing.”
To be clear, I fully understand we are not meant to necessarily belong in this world. But, if we can’t reach people on a social level, we can’t lead them to the Lord. So unpopular Christianity is something we should address so we can reach more people for the Kingdom.
An article on NPR (National Public Radio) says we are in “steep decline.” Which makes it even more important we multiply ourselves by reaching others with Christ. You can read the article here.
Christianity may be unpopular because us Christians act cuckoo.
Sorry to be so blunt…no, I’m not!
The truth is many people just feel uncomfortable around us Christians.
They simply don’t want to hang out with us because of the way we treat them or portray our faith.
They may associate us with hate-filled speech or even stupid political parties. Even before all these things were as prominent as they are today, I experienced the social rejection Christianity can produce by it’s “stand out and be perfect” mentality. Wanna hear something funny: I didn’t mind it. Largely because of what my childhood church taught me.
It was uber-conservative and socialized us to believe Christians should be “set apart” and not be around sinners. They said we are the “light of the world” and should avoid events where people are not behaving like Christians.
Hey, I’ve even been told the reason I wasn’t invited to some events was that I’d make folks feel “uncomfortable” drinking and such. I was like “really”???? Some Christians would say “GOOD! you shouldn’t be around them anyway!”
For those Christians, I have one question:
How the heck are we going to reach non-Christians and be light if we remain only in the “light”??? Light means little until it is exposed to darkness, then it becomes something amazing!
Try turning a light on in a bright room. It’s stupid, right? You won’t notice the difference because the room is ALREADY lit. Same with avoiding social events unbelievers attend. We can “turn on the light” for them.
When everyone in the room is saved, the impact is limited.
Nevertheless, so many Christians stay separate from sinners and act as though they are somehow better than them. That’s wrong, Christian Sister.
Yeah, I think that’s one of the main reasons Christianity is unpopular. Folks have had just enough crazy experiences with us to want to stay far from us all.
We have made Christianity undesirable by being judgemental and cliquish.
Creepy Christians are why Christianity is another reason unpopular these days
You know I’m right when I say some of us are just plain….scary- like Halloween/Twilight Zone scary!
We go around speaking a foreign language or what I call “Bible-ese.”
We use our secret, coded little church words.
We twitch without warning.
As for the jargon, I have an example. We use words like “favor”, “blessed” “victorious”, etc. These are good words, but most people outside the church don’t have a clue what in the world we’re talking about, and that can totally “creep” them out.
I’m not perfect nor do I know everything about evangelism, but I do try to limit those sorts of words around non-believers. Instead of saying a word like favor, I’d say something like “Wow! Good things just keep happening. I know God is working, Girl”. This makes more sense to an unbeliever than “I’m blessed and highly favored.”
Plus, it doesn’t sound as odd.
Sure, I want to always give praise to the Lord, but not go around sounding hokey.
If people are around me long enough – with me speaking plain English – eventually, folks start asking questions or for prayer. Happens all the time!
Even better, sometimes people just see how our lives unfold and start asking questions naturally.
If someone asks me:
“You’re always in such a good mood, what’s up with you?”.
I can say, “the Lord is so good to me! I just can’t help it. Speaking of which! Where are you spiritually?”
Humor is also how I do life, you may have another way to reach folks.
Let Him use you and your personality as a tool.
Winning Souls even when Christianity is unpopular.
Our walk on this earth is mostly about introducing people to the loving, saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That’s our primary purpose, right?
To win them for Christ, we must be wise.
We must be accessible emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
Christianity enables us to live a life above our circumstances and feelings and that’s attractive. People want to be able to do that too.
They long for a life of peace and perspective.
This is what I’m writing out. How will they ever experience this beautiful life in Christ if we scare them off with our personas of “perfection” or strange way of behaving?
You know, it is easier to spout platitudes about Jesus than to actually “live” Godly in this world. For instance, how hard is it to say to someone: “You need Jesus, He is a Savior to all”? Pretty easy to say, huh? Takes only a few seconds. You can do that without relationships or taking interest in someone.
On the other hand, it’s significantly tougher living an authentic Christian life in peace when everyone else is freaking out.
Or, to turn the other cheek when someone attacks you?
Or, praying a quick blessing over that joker that cuts you off in traffic? MUCH harder, yes?
“I’m just like you, I just have Jesus”
The key to making Christianity accessible and “cool” again lies in walking a very fine line. The line is between revealing our humanity (warts and all) to others while living authentic Christian lives (holy and acceptable) according to Christ’s teachings.
It’s okay to struggle. We all do.
I even think it’s good for the unsaved to see that we struggle in life and in culture just as they do.
However, more importantly, they also need to see us reaching, pressing, and striving to be like Christ in the struggle. In the end, they must see us living a life to please God – in spite of the struggles and hard times.
I’m talking about things like:
Like loving the unlovable. *ouch*
Hugging and blessing people that treat us badly. *yuck*
Not stealing office supplies from work. *who does that?*
Want more examples? You got it!
They gotta see us being kind to our husbands – behind closed doors.
Loving the neighbor that won’t speak to you. I’ve got one of those. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was take muffins to her [I’m sure is racist] after her father passed. Ugh. But, God gave me the strength to do it. He even made me “want” to bless her. She still doesn’t speak to me, but I will keep smiling, waving, and showing Christ’s love because she needs to know He loves and cares for her and so do I.
The image of Christianity really could use a makeover.
You and I can be part of that by living Christ’s examples instead of cuckoo (the third time I’ve used that word) spiritual snobs.
We can be the “change” people need to see in order to make them want to know Christ.
I know I’m going to work toward it. How about you?
