The leading cause of people not accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior is Christians. Living in these last days, that really should not be a shock to many of us. As Jesus church we so often fail to display those characteristics that Jesus possessed, the chief of which is Love.
I have had some of my own experience with the lack of love from fellow Christians. Abandonment, betrayal and gossip that has destroyed my reputation and my peace. All for which I did nothing wrong, those wrongs only imagined in the minds of the betrayers.
When people see us as believers, they should see a glimpse of Jesus. Least of which is the sacrificial, others oriented love that Jesus said would be the mark of whether we truly knew Him or not. When Paul was writing to Christians about Christians in the “last days”, he said this:
2Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Yes, Paul was describing the character and behavior of Christians, not those in the world. Thirty-five years ago when I asked Jesus into my life, I read those verses and refused to believe that someone who claimed to follow Jesus could ever act in the ways that Paul described believers would conduct themselves in the last days.
Today, in my own life and in the church of Jesus in general, I have seen these things present and growing more intensely every year. Prophetically, as a student and writer of the events, signs and fulfillment of Bible Prophecy, I see these characteristics present in the church as a sure sign of Jesus soon return. When Jesus spoke of His second coming, He said this:
Luke 18:8 … Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
The leading indicator of these things from this writers perspective, is the lack of genuine love. Perhaps it is the fast paced lifestyles that all of us lead, or the technological wonders that take so much of our time and passion that have robbed us of this love. No other generation has been as busy and so preoccupied with iPhones, iPads, and computer games as this generation. Jesus said that a true measurement of where our hearts are, is where we spend our time and thoughts. In the earlier days of the “Jesus people movement”, of which I was spiritually birthed, our constant companion was Jesus and the joy and fellowship with other believers. We occupied our time with thoughts of the Lord’s great love and what He had saved us from. Today everything is so much more complicated and cluttered and the simple solitude in Jesus has become allusive and fleeting.
I read an article today on beliefnet.com regarding a well know person by the name of Anne Rice. I personally did not know of her until I read this article, but I found myself grieving over her plight with those who call themselves Christians. It seems that Anne has decided to leave Christianity. She made no mention of whether she intended to leave Jesus, just that she is fed up with Jesus followers. Well, sometimes I am too Anne, I can certainly sympathize. If I only had my eyes on the followers of Jesus and not on the Lord Himself, I would also be constantly frustrated with Christianity. It is important to remember that although Christianity should be illustrated by those who follow Christ, it doesn’t always work that way.
What I have always had to keep in perspective is that all those who say they follow Jesus are still living in a body that is prone to sin. It is the constant struggle of all those “Born Again” to deny the flesh and be led by the Spirit. Christians are always going to fail, that is why we needed a Savior to begin with. It will not be until the death of this earthly body that we will finally be set free from the power of sin in our life. We all need a little more patience with each other and ourselves when disappointment sets in over behavior that is not always “Christ Like”.
Although I can sympathize with Anne Rice, I think the reason for her Spiritual demise is that she has been looking at the wrong person. She looked at Christians instead of the Christ. Jesus never fails to exhibit true love and graciousness. He always does those things that please the Father and He is perfect in Righteousness and Holiness. All of us, on the other hand, are not like that most of the time.
It is important to remember that when we confessed our trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior He Justified us, that is, He took away our sins and imputed to us perfect righteousness. God did not ignore our sins, or sweep them under the rug and act as if they never existed. He permanently removed them from our record forever, because of Jesus death and resurrection.
God needed a righteous basis for forgiveness. In the Bible, forgiveness is never the forgetting of the offense. It is the exacting of a penalty that is deserved. In our case, we had all broken the law of God and were worthy of eternal death. Jesus stepped in and took our place so that not only were our sins forgiven, then were permanently removed from our record so that we appear now eternally perfect. By allowing Jesus to do this for us, God had a righteous basis to forgive all those who believe. Not one of us did anything to deserve this gracious gift, in fact it was impossible that we could do anything to deserve this priceless blessing. The price was paid for us because God loves us, not because we were worthy of it.
So, when I see Christians failing to be like Jesus, I am reminded of my own sin and how impossible it was that I could ever obtain God’s love and forgiveness by my own efforts. I bear with failable Christians and myself because I understand that we are all still a work in process. Someday when we depart these bodies, we will obtain a brand new body that will enable us to finally be perfect in our behavior all of the time, just like Jesus.
My encouragement to Anne Rice and all those dissapointed and dissalusioned by Christianity, get your eyes off people and get them on Jesus. He will never dissapoint you.
Rob Robinson
The following article is from today’s beliefnet.com:
Anne Rice Breaks Up With Christianity via Facebook
I am not sure what sparked this outburst or if it is just a rant that will later be tempered with something else a little less emotional. I know that she has long spoken out in interviews that she struggles with some of the Catholic Church’s stands on issues . But she has also eloquently spoken out about her deep spiritual need for Christ.
I understand this statement does not say she has stopped believing in Christ but I also feel that the words are a pretty broad indictment of Christians and Christianity. There has been and always will be those within any religious group that do harm in the name of faith and truth. A woman as bright and articulate as Rice should surely know that not all Christians fit the unflattering portrait she painted in her post.
What do you think of Anne’s break-up news? Specifically, is this another example of a way that social networking makes it too easy to create drama instead of dialogue?
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