It’s not uncommon for those who live in the “Christian” parts of the country to have negative experiences with Christians. People learn to avoid “Christian businesses” because “Christian businesses” have a reputation for being dishonest. People don’t want to attend churches because there is almost a constant power struggle; a few people control everything and if you upset one person, the entire group comes after you (this also happens on Christian message boards, Christian social clubs, etc). At a protest against homosexual marriages or against abortion, Christians tend to be the nastiest people there, hurling insults and condemnations.
The irony is that Christians will also cry out for grace for the helpless, but very rarely show it for fellow Christians. In short, Christians simply don’t seem to be good people.
Now, we can come back and say, “But the rest of the world is like this.” Yes, they are; but aren’t we called to be different from them? Aren’t we called to not show preference for one person or another? Aren’t we called to love all?
Obviously we will fail at points. Sometimes in our passion for the truth we can get over-zealous, but how often are Christians just down right nasty people? How often are they just mean spirited? How often do they try to correct everyone else, but fail to receive correction?
There’s not much we can do to change such people. The best we can do is to humble ourselves and live a life that doesn’t reflect how these people act. We are to live lives that refresh others, that give others hope, that show them how Christians are to truly live.
That is about all we can do.
