Why I’ve been doing Christianity all wrong

Over the past few days, my entire perspective on Christianity has changed. I came to a realisation that Christians are the reason people have no faith in Christianity – as Christians we think we’re portraying a certain image but in reality, we’re doing quite the opposite. We are the source of our own problems! The sooner we do something about it, the better!

Let me explain my reasoning,

Think about this: The church is so quick to say ‘love’ thy neighbour but does this actually happen in practice? Do we even make others want to live the life Jesus did? Is the church even attractive to others? Is the church an institution people want to be associated with? The answer is no. Not because the message of God changes and ceases to be good, it’s more about which messages are emphasised on. Our focus isn’t on the right message and we don't even realise it. The media focuses on the negatives of Christianity but we do nothing about it!

I'm not saying we should relativise the ideas in the Bible but what we can do is consider what Jesus would actually do. Whilst the Bible adopts a very clear stance on subjects such as homosexuality, love remains at the centre of Jesus' teachings. The Bible constantly preaches the discipline of agape and how everyone must love their neighbour, so why isn't this the message that is emphasised? What better way to show your love for someone than actually doing it? The media makes generalisations of the church as a whole and portrays the message that all Christians reject the idea of homosexuality; they fail to take into consideration separate denominations and their personal stance on a certain issue but what are we doing about issues such as this?

Why do we carry on and evangelise anyway in hope that people will see past the allegations posed by the media? Instead of portraying Christianity to be a better lifestyle, it appears to be a way of life that is associated with oppression. Again this is due to our failure to go back to basics. I am a victim of this 'Cosy Christian' mentality. I've become so overfamiliar with my faith and it's this overfamiliarity that made me forget to keep the word of God deep in my heart. I constantly fail to go back to basics. I want to propose the idea that we should go back to basics. The sooner we realise that our lifestyle is the best way to show others that the message the media is portraying is a distorted version of our religion the better. We can't sit here, expecting something to change when we're doing nothing about it.

So you're probably wondering what caused me to change my perspective on Christianity. It was indeed a sermon by Dan Blythe entitled ’70 X 7’, he explored the need for forgiveness and highlighted how together we can change the narrative the world has of the church. I haven’t come here to diagnose you or to be judgemental, rather I am here to say that as Christians we need to step up and change the narrative. Change the way that society perceives the church; the only we can successfully do so is to change our perspective. In order to touch people, we need to take a look at ourselves and say “If I saw Christianity as it was right now would I want to go to church?”.

That is what I have been doing wrong. Dan Blythe emphasised the message that we need to be leaders of mercy and grace (ironic I know). By showing grace, mercy and love there is no better way to prove the media wrong.

I say 'we' as I believe its a duty for all Christians, I want to propose the idea that our primary duty isn't to convert others but its to attempt to live the perfect lifestyle. A lifestyle that can only be executed with guidance to the Bible, the Bible says that you should write the word deep into your heart (Proverbs 3:3) and all these years I’ve personally failed to do this. I'm not saying I have failed to be a Christian, I’m just saying that I've taken the wrong approach to Christianity. Consequently allowing me to forget about what's really important. I’ve come to realise that living life with Jesus is so different to what I originally thought it was. It goes beyond going to church every Sunday, serving in the church, evangelising to others - it’s really about applying the word to your life. How do we expect others to listen to us if we aren’t even executing what we preach? As Christians, the only way we can break the negative stigmas associated with Christianity is by our lifestyle. We have to take the pragmatic leap of faith and assess our own lives!

My next few posts will be exploring topics such as homosexuality in depth and how I think we can break away from the negative stigmas associated with religion. In the meantime, you can listen to Dan Blythe's sermon https://hillsong.com/uk/podcast/2018/11/70x7/#.W_W__S10dQI

Have a blessed week xxx

If you're reading this and you aren't Christian, what do you think Christians are doing wrong? Do you think Christians need to step up? Is there something they can do? Why does the Christian image differ from other religions?