Christianity responses to main criticisms

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Yes, there are many fake Christians.
There are genuine Christians but they are certainly not perfect.
What judgmental means from the Christian perspective- ‘…many people say that they don’t think that others should make moral judgments, but they soon change their mind when somebody does something immoral against them.’
‘Why I hate religion but love Jesus.’

“Christians have often heard the accusation that they don’t ‘practice what they preach.’ There are several reasons why Christians do not practice what they preach or at least appear to others to not be practicing what they preach.

First, not all who profess to be Christians really belong to Christ.

Jesus warned in His parable of the wheat and the tares that there would be false believers in the world, sown by Satan, whose aim is to cripple the testimony of Christians so that their witness to the world would be compromised. Satan tries to destroy Christ’s work by placing false believers and teachers in the world who lead many astray. One has only to look at the latest televangelist scandal to know the world is filled with professing “Christians” whose ungodly actions bring reproach on the name of Christ. In Matthew 7:22, Jesus warned that many would profess faith but do not know Him. He also said we would recognize false believers by their fruit. A bad tree does not produce good fruit, nor does a good tree produce bad fruit (Luke 6:43). Part of bad fruit is not practicing what you preach.”

(Reprinted by permission. Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/practice-what-you-preach.html)

 

Christoph Kreitz, Cornell University, said: “There are many people who say they are Christians but are deceiving themselves and the others. Today, various research polls are consistently demonstrating that a significant shift has been occurring in the West and that many Christians have embraced a worldview that is totally at odds with the faith they profess. According to surveys 86% of Americans claim to be Christian, yet 72% reject the notion of absolute truth, 40% believe a New Age, pantheistic view of God, 30% believe in reincarnation, and 36% believe that astrology is scientific. Many Christians have been fooled by New Age thinking and now tend to mix beliefs into their faith which in today’s world sound so plausible but are completely wrong from a biblical perspective. In this sense, the New Age Movement is the successful continuation of Satan’s ultimate lie, ultimately aiming at the seduction of Christianity.”

(Source: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kreitz/christian/cults/9.newage.pdf)

 

There are genuine Christians but they are certainly not perfect.

“Upon careful consideration the Christian values and principles are by far the most logically coherent, inherently excellent for human life and progress, but they are also very high and demanding for the fallen human nature. It is the belief of Christianity that sin has devastated the world since its creation and it has enormous consequences on the human nature and will continue to have until the end of the world corresponding to Jesus second coming. These demanding standards lead obviously to many shortcomings that may range from scandalous actions to daily character and attitudes.

So Christians are certainly not perfect. In fact, Christians preach a message that is, ultimately, impossible to live up to. While sinlessness is to be their goal, it is not achievable in this lifetime. However, the fact that they fail to live up to God’s perfect standard does not change the fact that it is to be their goal and message. Also, many times true Christians behave in an un-Christian manner out of immaturity in the faith or a lack of understanding of just exactly what the Christian life entails. New believers are often excited about their newfound faith and eager to share it with others. When, because of immaturity, their lives do not measure up to their testimony, charges of not practicing what you preach are leveled at them. As Christians grow and mature in the faith, their lives should more and more reflect the truths that they profess to believe.

Fortunately, people are not saved by whether or not others practice what they preach. Salvation is the gift of God through faith, and none of those whom God has given to Christ will be snatched out of His hand (John 10:28-29). No amount of false professions by unbelievers or disappointing actions by immature Christians can change that.”

(Reprinted by permission. Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/practice-what-you-preach.html)

What judgmental could mean.

Richard Deem said: “Christians who act as if they are better than everyone else are certainly not living by the creeds of Christianity, and may not even be Christians at all. A ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude is strongly condemned in the Bible.

However it may well be that when Christians tell others that their behavior does not meet God’s standards, it is not because they try to be superior, but rather to warn people they care about of the peril to their soul in light of their actions.

So it may be that when people make the claim that Christians are judgmental what they are really referring to is Christians’ judgment between right and wrong. But every person on Earth (with the possible exception of those who are judged to be criminally insane) makes judgments between right and wrong, in order to make decisions about how to live one’s life. Murder, assault, rape, fraud, theft, and numerous other behaviors are judged as being immoral, they are judged by law also.

Although many people say that they don’t think that others should make moral judgments, they soon change their mind when somebody does something immoral against them.

Christians are often accused of being judgmental. However, what most people consider to be judgmental is merely telling others what the Bible says are unacceptable behaviors. Christians tell others what the Bible says about behavior because they are asked to do so and if their faith is true they do it out of love and concern not superiority.

Perhaps a final response regarding the shortcomings of Christians is that when assessing Christianity, one should not look at the people but at Christ, their leader, and what the Bible actually says.Christianity literally means “Christ-like,” and that idea is the main foundation of it. How does one truly become Christ-like? Simply by following Christ example and teachings in and from the Bible.”

Scott Misar, in his article “Look at Christ, not Christians, to define Christianity”, said: “Yes there are people who claim to be Christian who burn Qurans, blow up abortion clinics and steal from the holy church, but the same could be said of almost every religion. “Did these people do these horrible things because Christianity is a farce? Or did they do them simply because they were humans with an evil nature?”The answer can’t be the first because all of these actions directly contradict the Bible and everything Jesus and other great teachers of the Bible preached. The Bible clearly says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

For more on how Christians can misuse their faith, see this article from Stephen Mattson, Relevant, here.

‘Why I hate religion but love Jesus.’

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