One thing I keep seeing is situations where the person (the non-believer) finally tells their parents or friends…and BAM…rejection. Parents and friends stop talking to them (presumably because they are so hurt)..they are shunned.

It leaves me scratching my head in disbelief. I know it happens, but WHY?

God calls us to love each other. God calls us to take care of one another.

How do you think non-believers feel when us Christians, who are supposed to show unconditional love, about face and walk away from the relationship?

From reading the comments, it’s clear that it’s incredibly damaging…not just to the person who’s at a very vulnerable time (spiritual low you might say)…but also damaging to Christianity.

Our reputation should be one of loving people THROUGH a hard time in their life…not walking away. People should know us as the people who didn’t judge, didn’t condemn, didn’t shun.

So, I’ll ask the pink elephant in the room question here: Is there anyone in your family that you have severed relations with because they fell away from the church? Ask yourself…is that what God wants, or is this just my imperfect human way of dealing with difficult situations?

Reach out in love and rebuild the relationship. Don’t try to drag them to church, don’t have your pastor chat with them, don’t try to fix them…just love them and spend time with them. Show them God’s unconditional love and mercy by how you treat them.

Who knows…LIVING the Christian faith may be just the witness they need to someday return to the faith.

To learn more about how you can help reverse negative Christian stereotypes, visit http://www.changingthefaceofchristianity.com. When you get there, JOIN the cause.

I was an atheist for 13 years, and through a miracle, started believing in God and eventually put my faith in Jesus Christ. Hear about my transformation and also learn a few tips on influencing Atheists.

Click here to hear the radio interview (26 Minutes). Also, let me know if you have any comments.

I think we Christians, to our discredit, place much too much importance on the issue of homesexual sin. Outsiders view us a haters, high and mighty, pompous, etc…  Is homosexuality a sin? yes. But remember that ANY sin is just as sinful as homosexuality to God. God teaches us to take the plank out of our own eye before we look to take the speck out of another person’s eye.

Should we practice holy ostracism because someone is homosexual? absolutely not. That only feeds the negative perception…that “we won’t associate with those sinners”..and that we are somehow better than them.

The fact is that we are NOT better than them. Even if we are Christian, and they are not…we are still NOT better than them. God is better…and it is Him who redeems us.

Would you ostracize someone who drank excessively? How about someone who was prideful. How about someone who lusts after someone who is not our spouse? How about someone who (insert any other sin you’ve ever heard of)?

Unless you are going to ostracise everyone (for all sins), I wouldn’t recommend ostracizing anyone for simply being homosexual.

Instead, associate with them. Share your love with them. Engage with them and let your life influence them positively. Let them know that even though God considers their behavior a sin…that we ALL sin, and God still loves us. Then encourage them to seek God and ask him into their life. Homosexuals don’t need to be “fixed”…they need to be loved. God will take it from there.

By the way, I’m very passionate about this negative perception of Christianity. I’ve started a movement to counter those negative perceptions…but it starts with YOU..and how you interface with the world. If you are interested, join our facebook group called “Chaning the Face of Christianity“:

It was the same! Christians devoted to Christ, praising and worshiping him. The people loved God although they expressed it differently than I was used to.

In this life, it’s so easy to look at how we are different than other people. It’s harder, but so much more meaningful, to focus on how we are the same. We are all in need of a savior. We are all imperfect. We all have hurts and doubts, but our God covers them all. We all have a God who loves us and makes us complete. We all have a God who deserves our worship and praise. How you and your church congregation expresses that is up to you.

With so many religions out there, how pompous is it of Christianity to think it’s the only true religion, and be SO exlusive…right?

I’ll save the topic of what makes Christianity different and special for a later post. I will say in summary…NOT all religions are true. Not all of them can be right at the same time. People who haven’t really studied the various religions look at that debate and say “look at all of the things these religions have in common; golden rule, the flood story, virgin birth, blah blah blah”. But its’ the differences that you have to look at when trying to compare them. If one religion says there is no heaven, and one religion says that there is…then one of them is wrong…end of story. I’ll talk more on that later. But for now, let’s talk about our exclusive little club shall we?

So, is Christianity exlusive and pompous? Hardly. Read on…

Let’s tear this argument apart, piece by piece.

1. Did Jesus die for just Christians (who didn’t exist at the time he walked the earth) or Jews? No. He died for EVERYONE, so that ALL could have eternal life with God.
2. Did Jesus put any restrictions on who could accept him…or difficult barriers between you and Him? Did he load you up with burdens that you must carry in order to be on His team? No.

   He said in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
   ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
   ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
   ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

3. If Christianity was a country club…what would you have to do to be a member? Answer: walk up and say “I accept your membership, that has already been paid for me by the owner…Jesus Christ”.

So, how can you call something exlusionary and intollerant…if all you have to do is ASK for it? Again, just say “Jesus, I accept your free gift. Instead of rejecting you…I accept you. Instead of putting up exuses and walking away from you…I want a relationship with you.”

The next time you hear someone say “Christianity is intollerant and exlusionary”…ask them to explain what is keeping them from accepting his free gift? Ask them to explain, specifically, what Christians are doing to keep them out of the club. The fact is that Christianity is the most open, tollerant, non-exlusive club on earth. ANYONE can join, ANYTIME in their life…and they will be accepted.

So what’s it going to be? Want in? All you have to do is ask. .