For months, I have had a lot on my mind in regard to those who are hurting around me. When I find out someone I know doesn’t know Jesus or isn’t interested in knowing him, it breaks my heart. I always try to ask questions without seeming to pry too much. I just want to get to the root of the reasoning. I know that if I live my life as a faithful follower of Christ that the seeds are being planted. I just know that sometimes I might not be the most fruitful, in that I don’t always represent my faith well…

When someone reveals to me that they don’t consider themselves a Christian, my first couple of questions are, “Do you believe in Jesus, and do you believe that he died on the Cross and rose back to life 3 days later?” Their answer typically gives me a starting point. If they say that they don’t believe, my next question is,  “what is it that keeps you from believing in Jesus?”

Many times, I get one of two responses. 

1. There are some that just haven’t been taught the truth of the Gospel, the Good News! They have a lot of misconceptions of who God is and what he desires from those who choose to surrender their lives to him.
2. Then there are others who feel apathy or even anger at the mention of God based on past negative experiences and the state of this world being so dark.

Response 1:
Those who haven’t heard the Gospel or who thought they had heard but it was not the true message of hope the gospel brings, tend to be more curious and open to what I have to share with them. They tell me who they were told Jesus is and what that means for them. Usually, whatever they were told isn’t the FULL story, so they aren’t interested in being in a relationship with him. In those conversations, I tend to find myself in awe of who Jesus is and how much he loves little ole me! I love sharing the WHOLE truth of a Savior who brings dead people (metaphorically as well as physically) back to life when they come to know and love him! 

A devotional I read a couple of years ago stated:

“Every now and then, I still hear the old term ‘back to the basics,’ and we use that term to describe foundational things. It’s just that I realized there was really nothing basic about the life of Jesus. But I feel like we have such a familiarity with Him and with the miracle of God’s plan of redemption that it loses some of its awe-inspiring impact on us. We can forget to be overwhelmed by the miracle of it all. Without Jesus and His sacrifice for us, making a way for us to be reconciled to God, we’d not only be lost… we’d be utterly without hope.”
— Jon Reddick, Back to the Basics

Jon Reddick also has a song called “I Believe It (The Life of Jesus)”  which is a declaration of belief in the life saving power of Jesus’ sacrifice and miracle of salvation and restoration. 

One day I was listening to this song, and it hit me… Christianity is the only religion with TRUE HOPE! Now, I don’t have a degree in theology, so don’t come after me. From my knowledge of other religions, I have not found any other where there is UNCONDITIONAL love. Meaning, Christians have God, who requires devotion and love of only himself, yes, BUT through faith in Jesus, his perfect Son, we are saved and have eternal life. 

Will we still fall short and sin? Yes. But do we have to slave away for his approval and love when we mess up? No, we don’t! We have NOTHING to prove! We are only asked to believe, trust, and love as he set the example of a righteous life. This is not an excuse to go and do evil in the world either. If you don’t feel compelled to be the best person you can be because of the love of God, then you aren’t truly in a relationship with Christ. When you follow Jesus, you want to be as close to him as you can, which means turning your life around to be more like him!

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭23‬-‭26 NIV

I’ve also heard the statement that many don’t understand why God won’t allow “good people” to go to Heaven just because they don’t believe in Jesus. 

I tell them that God is the Creator of all things. He created a perfect world, but humans fell for the lie that we could be equal to God if we disobey God. The enemy convinced Eve and Adam that God didn’t have their best intentions in his plan, that he was holding out on them. When they acted on this belief, they soon learned that it was wrong and felt shame. For years and years, humans who followed God had to provide various sacrifices, mainly blood sacrifices from pure animals as a covering of their sins in order to be made right with God. God promised from the beginning to provide a way to him through a Savior. God sent Jesus as a human to live a perfect life and die so that we may be forgiven and no longer have to pay the price for our sins. Jesus took on the wrath of God for the sins of ALL humanity when he hung on that Cross.

When we confess our sins and call on Jesus to be Lord over our lives, we are given the gifts of hope, peace, and joy here on Earth. The greatest gift is the never ending life with God filled with love and worship of him. The most extraordinary piece of the Gospel is that Jesus did not remain in the grave. He proved that even death isn’t strong enough to conquer the power of God’s love for his creation!  If you hear the Good News of the ultimate sacrifice, yet still choose to reject Jesus, then God will have to turn away from you because it is only through Christ that we may approach God and be saved.

Jesus’ words are powerful and so comforting in hard times,

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John‬ ‭14‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Response 2:
The main reason I’ve heard for the apathy of others when it comes to becoming a Christian, is that “Those who call themselves Christians don’t act like the Jesus they claim to follow.”

When I am given the response of how others in the Church have hurt them, judged them, abandoned them, betrayed them, or acted hypocritically, my first reaction is usually to apologize for the actions of others. I make a point to say that “We are all human, and we are flawed. Please don’t let the mistakes of other people keep you from exploring a relationship with Jesus. We all need Jesus to make us right and to forgive us from the times we missed the mark.” 

Most of the time, I am met with a nod of appreciation for my sentiment but not much budging with the resistance. And honestly, I don’t blame them!

Church hurt is real! People are messy and sometimes cruel! We are all broken, but C’MON Church…C’MON Brothers and Sisters in Christ… we HAVE to DO better! We HAVE to BE better! This is my attempt at a more well rounded response for those that have confided in me about how they have been left feeling unloved, unwanted, and ignored by people who claim to love God and are called to love others as themselves…

I have heard some heartbreaking stories where dear friends of mine grew up in church, but when they became adults, they no longer felt a sense of belonging, only judgement. They often turned to their fellow believers to be there to support them in difficult times, but instead of walking alongside them in the pain, those believers allowed discomfort to take over and they were left feeling rejected and abandoned by those who were supposed to represent God in their life. When those who are hurt like this go through lonely times, they feel as though God has also turned his back on them. They no longer see the point in following God. 

Those who don’t believe tend to live life with clouded eyes and most of the time can get lost on the journey. If we as the Church just walk past them as they are wandering alone and afraid, how are we showing them Jesus? How are we acting set apart for God? We aren’t…

You might ask, “What do I say to the hurting person that has gone down the wrong path?”  I asked myself that same question…
What I came up with is that I feel like it’s harder to speak to the person who is angry with God. Typically, they don’t want to believe in his love and goodness because of the aching that taunts them from whatever instances let them down one too many times.
Whereas speaking to someone who is apathetic about God’s existence and could take or leave him wouldn’t bring as much hostility. I feel like the truth isn’t as difficult to accept for someone who hasn’t been in the faith or felt abandoned by God than for someone who feels like God rejected and disposed of them (even though he is hurting right alongside them).

I’ve learned that standing firm in your faith is a good testament that something about God changes people for the better! We are called as followers of Christ to share the Good News and our testimony of how it has changed our hearts and lives for the better. We can do this in casual conversation when sharing different situations in our lives, we share how God played a vital  role throughout them all and continues to do so!

So the following 2 songs are a challenge to my fellow believers: 

Those of us who are Christ followers must remember that we never truly know what others have been through or are going through in the present. We must be intentional about sharing God’s love and kindness in our actions and words to everyone we encounter. We must remember where our hope lies and live our lives like we truly believe it!

If you find yourself wondering, “How do I experience this hope you speak of?”
I would be honored if you reach out to me if you would like to talk more to someone whose life has been transformed by God’s love! 

“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”
1 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I had so much to say that I had to make this topic into 2 posts! Be on the lookout for the second part: How Will They Know?