Why I'm Not a Christian

[cubinity]

I first said the sinner's prayer in a kid's summer camp.
My parents were divorcing.
I was the stinky kid in school.
I was alone on so many levels, and I just wanted to be loved.
Christ's overwhelming compassion was exactly what I needed.

I grew up to later study Christian apologetics.
In search for arguments to defend my faith, I studied.
I studied what Christians and non-Christians were saying.
It was then that I first read Bertrand Russell's philosophies on Christianity.

Bertrand Russell wrote, "Why I Am Not a Christian."
The first time I read it, and many years afterward, I adamantly disagreed with him.
He was not a Christian because of his objection to how Christians behaved.
I argued that Christianity is so much more than that.

I started college studying religion.
But I realized I couldn't make it in the Christian world as a career preacher.
I couldn't emotionally cope with the constant criticism.
I couldn't endure the objectionable way I knew Christians behaved.
So, I transferred into the business department.

In business school, I learned to use my God-given talents to help the world economically.
I feel profoundly successful, and profoundly comfortable in the business world.
I feel at home doing things I love and am good at.
I feel a way Christianity never made me feel.

I believe in the substitutive atonement for my sins that only Jesus provides.
I believe in following Christ's discipleship toward being a better person.
I believe so many Christian things.

However, my experiences have shown me how right Bertrand Russell was, after all.
Detestable Christian behavior has made it painful for me to remain active in a Christian community.
Most days, I would rather not be a Christian anymore, not because I believe any less in Jesus, but because it pains me to associate with many of the Christians I've encountered.

I love Christ, but I don't love the Christianity I've experienced.

 

[CocoaBean]

I guess the question for me is, "How does a Christian behave?" I mean we know how a Christian is supposed to behave. Is it possible to not act as a Christian is supposed to act, and still be a Christian? If one believes that Christians are sinners, then there would be a wealth of sinful behaviors that might be associated with being Christian, for we are not like our Father, who we aspire to be like. I don't know. Good OP.

 

[11822]

I love Christ, but I don't love the Christianity I've experienced.

Im a Christian. Christ came for sinners not perfect copies of Himself. But i see your point about how we as Christians can fail to separate ourselves from the desires of this world and be transformed into doers of the Word.

 

[NvxiaLee]

I first said the sinner's prayer in a kid's summer camp.
My parents were divorcing.
I was the stinky kid in school.
I was alone on so many levels, and I just wanted to be loved.
Christ's overwhelming compassion was exactly what I needed.

You object to Christian behavior but your early experience with Christians put you on the path of becoming a preacher (until you switched to business)? Your Christian parents divorcing, and not making sure you were clean before going to school? The Christian kids and teachers not approaching you to relieve your loneliness? (I know of some kids at a local high school who shower and have their laundry done at school, because the school won't let them stink at school. And, it's done discretely so not to embarrass these kids with the rest of the students.)

In you post you identify nothing about Christian behavior that you, yourself, find objectionable.

Christians are such a diverse group that it's beyond credibility that you can't find some who live up to your standards of how a Christian should behave, unless you're just expecting super-human behavior from publicity harlots who pass for well-known Christian leaders. How do you personally behave? In a way to impress those Christians around you?

Anyway, when God flooded the world, he only found one man and his family worth saving. Ditto for Sodom and Gomorrah. When Pentecost came, there were only 120 people believers, after Christ's multi-year ministry. There are many other examples in the Bible showing how few people really are on the path to God. If you thought a lot of Christians behave right, it would call into question your own judgement.

 

[simonthezealot]

You object to Christian behavior but your early experience with Christians put you on the path of becoming a preacher (until you switched to business)? Your Christian parents divorcing, and not making sure you were clean before going to school? The Christian kids and teachers not approaching you to relieve your loneliness? (I know of some kids at a local high school who shower and have their laundry done at school, because the school won't let them stink at school. And, it's done discretely so not to embarrass these kids with the rest of the students.)

In you post you identify nothing about Christian behavior that you, yourself, find objectionable.

Christians are such a diverse group that it's beyond credibility that you can't find some who live up to your standards of how a Christian should behave, unless you're just expecting super-human behavior from publicity harlots who pass for well-known Christian leaders. How do you personally behave? In a way to impress those Christians around you?

Anyway, when God flooded the world, he only found one man and his family worth saving. Ditto for Sodom and Gomorrah. When Pentecost came, there were only 120 people believers, after Christ's multi-year ministry. There are many other examples in the Bible showing how few people really are on the path to God. If you thought a lot of Christians behave right, it would call into question your own judgement.

This is a superb post. Thank you for sharing.

 

[cubinity]

You object to Christian behavior but your early experience with Christians put you on the path of becoming a preacher (until you switched to business)? Your Christian parents divorcing, and not making sure you were clean before going to school? The Christian kids and teachers not approaching you to relieve your loneliness? (I know of some kids at a local high school who shower and have their laundry done at school, because the school won't let them stink at school. And, it's done discretely so not to embarrass these kids with the rest of the students.)

In you post you identify nothing about Christian behavior that you, yourself, find objectionable.

Christians are such a diverse group that it's beyond credibility that you can't find some who live up to your standards of how a Christian should behave, unless you're just expecting super-human behavior from publicity harlots who pass for well-known Christian leaders. How do you personally behave? In a way to impress those Christians around you?

Anyway, when God flooded the world, he only found one man and his family worth saving. Ditto for Sodom and Gomorrah. When Pentecost came, there were only 120 people believers, after Christ's multi-year ministry. There are many other examples in the Bible showing how few people really are on the path to God. If you thought a lot of Christians behave right, it would call into question your own judgement.

This is a superb post.
There is, however, one particular behavior I'd like to mention that has driven me from Christian community.
Unloving criticism and rejection.

It wasn't Christian kids that made me feel bad about being the stinky kid, but it was Christian adults calling people I respected publicity harlots and apostate heretics simply because they saw things differently that got to me.
My parents weren't Christians when they divorced, but the people who kicked my brother out of their home church when he was caught in a sin where Christians, and their lack of mercy left a lasting impression.
Criticism is not something that I myself haven't also been guilty of, but it is the insistent insults and inflammatory rhetoric from those who "defend the truth" without empathizing because of their own flaws that leave me feeling burned, rejected and belittled by Christians.

I've learned that I'm loved by God, and that I don't have to put up with those lies anymore. So, I distance myself intentionally from people who refuse to show mutual respect and solidarity while communicating their opinion, in order to preserve my own sanity.

 

[simonthezealot]

This is a superb post.
There is, however, one particular behavior I'd like to mention that has driven me from Christian community.
Unloving criticism and rejection.

The things Bell brings up should not be things you're afraid of receiving criticism about, truth always prevails and criticism drives people to research and reach truth.

 

[GaryLee]

Such drama. Hip Hip Hooray. Welcome to the World.

 

[cubinity]

I'm not afraid of receiving criticism.
I just know my worth in Jesus.
It's not fear, but wisdom.

I consider a critic who does not recognize some solidarity with me to be a false teacher.
Christ seems to encourage me to be aware of and protect myself from false teachers, so that's what I'm doing.
He also made it clear in his Gospel that false teachers are going to be so self-diluted that they aren't going to know what they are (Yes, I know that is a sword that cuts both ways).
He made it clear they would be a poison and think they were somehow "defending the truth."

Well, I'm willing to let God sort out what He is going to accept and reject. I'm just going to be conscious of what I'm going to accept and reject, and I'm determined not to accept a life exposed to vile and unsympathetic criticism from those who would self-righteously use the Lord's name to condemn fellow Christians (a vain use, I believe).

 

[Montalban]

I'm not afraid of receiving criticism.
I just know my worth in Jesus.
It's not fear, but wisdom.

I've met a number of Orthodox Christians who aren't the best of people (neither am I a prime example)

I've had criticism from my co-religionists on many levels

Abandoning the ideal based on the people who fail to live up that ideal is not logical.

I find democracy the best system. Yet, I know politicians are thieves and liars. Do I give up on democracy because of that? Do you?

 

[cubinity]

I've met a number of Orthodox Christians who aren't the best of people (neither am I a prime example)

I've had criticism from my co-religionists on many levels

Abandoning the ideal based on the people who fail to live up that ideal is not logical.

I find democracy the best system. Yet, I know politicians are thieves and liars. Do I give up on democracy because of that? Do you?

I'm not giving up on Christianity.
I don't like what I have experienced.
I am now adjusting toward being selective about who I let cast a vote in my life.

 

[simonthezealot]

I consider a critic who does not recognize some solidarity with me to be a false teacher.

So if a person recognizes some solidarity with say a Jehovah witness, then it's not a false teaching?
You need to have a higher standard to what a false teacher is, 1st one must maintain scripture as the infallible inerrant word of God..If not then how can there be any absolute truth in the world, and without absolute truth there is no absolute evil and if no absolute evil, Hitler was justified.

 

[sunlover1]

I first said the sinner's prayer in a kid's summer camp.
My parents were divorcing.
I was the stinky kid in school.
I was alone on so many levels, and I just wanted to be loved.
Christ's overwhelming compassion was exactly what I needed.

Amen!
You're not "the stinky kid' anymore.
You're a new creation in Christ. And
we have all been "the stinky kid" you
do realize that I'm sure. So we can all
relate with you.

He was not a Christian because of his objection to how Christians behaved.
I argued that Christianity is so much more than that.

I think he was a fool to teach this.
Rather than cursing the darkness he could have lit a candle!

I started college studying religion.
But I realized I couldn't make it in the Christian world as a career preacher.
I couldn't emotionally cope with the constant criticism.
I couldn't endure the objectionable way I knew Christians behaved.
So, I transferred into the business department.

Had you the anointing on you, He would have given you the grace to
and the burning desire. You're right where you belong!

In business school, I learned to use my God-given talents to help the world economically.
I feel profoundly successful, and profoundly comfortable in the business world.
I feel at home doing things I love and am good at.
I feel a way Christianity never made me feel.

Then this is your "assignment" ... so let Him use you where you are.
Bloom where you're planted! Sounds perfect!

I believe in the substitutive atonement for my sins that only Jesus provides.
I believe in following Christ's discipleship toward being a better person.
I believe so many Christian things.

However, my experiences have shown me how right Bertrand Russell was, after all.
Detestable Christian behavior has made it painful for me to remain active in a Christian community.

No... he's not right!
We need to OVERLOOK a lot.
Love covers a "multitude" of sin.
Just as God overlooks your ugly, you can pray for
Him to give you those same eyes .. that same heart.
Actually, it's Christ IN you... that should be manifesting
in your life.. this IS (imo) the ... Christian life in a nutshell.

Most days, I would rather not be a Christian anymore, not because I believe any less in Jesus, but because it pains me to associate with many of the Christians I've encountered.

So find the
ones who live it and be an example to the ones who dont.

 

[ghendricks63]

You need to have a higher standard to what a false teacher is, 1st one must maintain scripture as the infallible inerrant word of God..If not then how can there be any absolute truth in the world, and without absolute truth there is no absolute evil and if no absolute evil, Hitler was justified.

I am a Christian in the sense of being a follower of Christ and a born again believer in Him.

I totally reject your declaration that "1st one must maintain scripture as the infallible inerrant word of God" I reject this because scripture is not inerrant, was never declared to be the word of God, and Jesus did not state such a belief as a requirement of faith.

We most certainly do have absolute truth in the world. Jesus referred to Him as the Spirit of Truth. I believe to declare the bible as the absolute truth is to make it an idol and deny the title and authority of the Trinity.

Your Hitler statement was just silliness...sorry.

 

[chris4243]

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Looks like you have judged people who have judged others, as above. And then you too were judged by people who have judged you for judging others for judging others.

 

[simonthezealot]

I am a Christian in the sense of being a follower of Christ and a born again believer in Him.

I totally reject your declaration that "1st one must maintain scripture as the infallible inerrant word of God" I reject this because scripture is not inerrant, was never declared to be the word of God, and Jesus did not state such a belief as a requirement of faith.

We most certainly do have absolute truth in the world. Jesus referred to Him as the Spirit of Truth. I believe to declare the bible as the absolute truth is to make it an idol and deny the title and authority of the Trinity.

Your Hitler statement was just silliness...sorry.

If you're a Christ follower then doesn't it follow that His words should be your standard for living? do you think God failed at leaving us oracles to follow but did just fine with the OT so that jesus could quote them as scripture?
How would you know absolute truths save the "word of God"? science? lol
It most certainly does declare itself to be the word of God.

 

[mark46]

I will be so bold to speak to you as if you are here. I apologize for any intrusion.
================================================
You cannot experience Christianity in others. Let us distinguish between being a Christian and being a member of a particular local church or denomination. Both are essential (it's tough to be a lone ranger Christian), but these are two very different concepts. You have reached out to us in many, many posts. See below for some thoughts. Accepting Jesus and rejecting "organized religion" is not an unusual idea. Many of us have been there, many for a long time.

BEING A CHRISTIAN
You love Jesus. Do you want to want to know him better? Do you want to follow him? Of course you do! You are seeking and you WILL find. That IS God's promise. Do you know that Jesus loves you, and will never desert you? Do you know that the Spirit of God will guide you all the days of your life? Do you know that nothing can separate you from the Love of God, not even your mistakes and missteps, not others, and certainly not your interprretation of doctrine? I pray that you don't allow so many visibly poor examples be a stumbling block for you and your personal journey.

SIMPLICITY - ONE POSSIBLE DISCIPLINE, A TEN-MINUTE CHALLENGE
Choose your own way to find 10 minutes a day to be alone with God.

Forget all the arguments! I will give you the guarantee I used to give when I taught teens at church. Give God 10 minutes a day for a month, and I will guarantee you that your life will be changed. I have changed the 10 minutes some as I sit here and write for you.

Morning Prayer (6 minutes)
"Holy Spirit be with me today, guide me in what you want me to do"
Read a devotional (Daily Bread or Upper Room come to mind)
Sit quietly for 3 minutes

During The Day (2 minutes)
Repeat the Jesus Prayer several times (use your favorite form)
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, a sinner"
Say this whenever you feel the need.

Evening Prayer (2 minutes)
Lord's Prayer (include 'deliver me from the Evil One' rather then evil)
Pray for whoever in the world you wish.

I do not mean to be in any way formal. The key is to spend some time with God.

FINDING A CHURCH COMMUNITY
When I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior in my 30's, I had a problem. I need to find a church within in which to work out my salvation (Paul's words). I stayed at that first church for a couple of years. I have moved on a couple of times. But in the end, I have found a church that is doing God's work where God want me to work.

After a month of listening a bit, consider where you might want to be for a couple of years. My strong advice is to fine a loving, open church and worry not much about doctrine. Attend a few. Listen to some of their sermons online. The Holy Spirit has a way of drawing you to one. After a couple of years, you will know more where you might grow best in your relationship to God.

On my personal journey, I have found that the label on the door makes little difference. I have found Spirit-filled churches in many denominations and I have found empty churches in many denominations.

READING
CS Lewis is much more fun than Russell. You might try the Joshua series by Girzone. Or try stuff by Scott Peck or Tony Campolo. BTW, Campolo is an amazing person and his writings and tapes (and web-site) are well worth the time.

I love Christ, but I don't love the Christianity I've experienced.

 

[cyberlizard]

I love Christ, but I don't love the Christianity I've experienced.

treat yourself to a biography on bonhoeffer, a Christian driven by his morals and understanding that faith without works is dead. A driving force in the covert operation to assassinate Hitler and do the world a favour... for his belief, he was hung. Any person who is prepared to put their money where their mouth is goes up greatly in my estimation. Words are easy!

A few years ago, I stepped back and examined my faith's beliefs from top to bottom. I advise everyone to do it once in a while. Break open the creeds and see if they match reality as you practice your faith. Either the creed is wrong, your lifestyle needs to change, or the creeds are to fluffy (and little earthly use).



Steve

 

[cubinity]

For those who have encouraged, and for those who have given tough words, but out of love and solidarity with me, I am profoundly thankful.

There are so many who get trapped in their narrow experience with few Christians nearest them, and do not all get the opportunity to here from the grand diversity that exists in the larger church.

I may not be in love with every Christian experience I've had, but these kinds of loving and empathetic expressions that encouragement me to adopt a Christ-like attitude are exactly what I need. Thank you and God bless.

 

[11822]

For those who have encouraged, and for those who have given tough words, but out of love and solidarity with me, I am profoundly thankful.

There are so many who get trapped in their narrow experience with few Christians nearest them, and do not all get the opportunity to here from the grand diversity that exists in the larger church.

I may not be in love with every Christian experience I've had, but these kinds of loving and empathetic expressions that encouragement me to adopt a Christ-like attitude are exactly what I need. Thank you and God bless.