Why Is Christianity Unpopular?
- writer_alexandra_lee
- Aug 13, 2020
- 13 min read
As my relationship with Jesus grows, and I learn more about Christianity, a lot of my questions are answered. But there's a question I continuously ponder—why is Christianity so unpopular in our culture today?
For a majority of the last 2000 years, Christian values, traditions, and beliefs were the things people built their lives on. Creation was the widely accepted explanation for the origin of the universe and mankind, the laws written in the Bible were the moral standard, even among unbelievers, and a common religious belief tied diverse individuals together.
What changed?
With the rise of Darwinism, Humanism, and New Age teachings, Christianity has fallen out of favor for many reasons, but I'm only going to name the ones I find the most prominent and observable.
You might be thinking, "Christianity isn't unpopular. I know a lot of Christians!" and that's great! From my experience, there are parts of Christianity that are popular—people like that there's a God watching over them. They like that He forgives and loves them, but there are parts of Christianity that are very unpopular as well—If you preach that Jesus is the only true God and all other gods are false, if you say that God is the objective standard of morality, and live your life according to His Word—you will not be popular, my friend. You'll probably be called an intolerant, anti-science, religious nut job! Yay, insults!
So let's get into it! Here are the three main reasons why I believe Christianity is unpopular in western civilization today.
1. The Blatant Hypocrisy of Christians
If you look around—at politics, religion, businesses, social media—you will quickly realize that everyone on this planet is a hypocrite.
I'm a hypocrite.
You're a hypocrite.
We've all been hypocrites at one time or another.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Matthew 23:25-26)
We all have double-standards. We support something, but hate something else, even when the two things are incredibly similar, and Christians are no different. The amount of false prophets who have completely disregarded the Word of God is through the roof. Christians fail to live up to God's standards again and again, but don't realize they're doing something wrong.
"The biggest problem with Christianity are Christians." - Frank Turek
And sadly this is the truth. It is not the religion itself that turns people off as much as the people who practice it. Why would someone want to join a family that worships one moment and argues the next? Why would someone want to label themselves a Christian if all Christians have ever done is treat them poorly?
The Christian ideology is beautiful. The Word of God is flawless. The story of Jesus' death and Resurrection is the greatest news in the history of the world for human beings of all races, nations, and backgrounds because there is no favoritism in the eyes of God. But it is all covered over by the favoritism, hypocrisy, and false teachings that so many of us practice today.
Instead of bringing people to Jesus, we're pushing them away with our behavior. We're not being the hands and feet of Jesus, we're being the tools and tongues of the devil. Every time we model unrighteous behavior, every time we loose our temper, every time we go into a situation or conversation with the mindset of, "How can I make myself feel better by pointing out what this person is doing wrong?" Instead of, "How can I show love to this person and lead them to the cross so they can inherit the gift of salvation Jesus has for them?" we are pushing people away from the church.
I would like to clarify a few things:
I am not saying that improving our behavior is a guaranteed solution for bringing more people to Christ. Some people just don't believe. They don't want to believe and nothing you say or do will change their mind.
I'm not implying that we can directly control the salvation of another person. We cannot believe for other people. We can help them along, but in the end, they must believe for themselves in order to be saved.
I am not saying that living more like Jesus will make our lives easier or protect us from the persecution of the world, nor am I saying that that should EVER be our goal. No matter how kind, righteous, or loving the church is, we will always be hated by people for speaking the truth. We should never compromise truth for popularity. Jesus said that we would be hated by the world: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it first hated me. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you," (John 15:18-19), and "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved," (Matthew 10:22). Improving our character does not mean sacrificing the authenticity of Word of God, it means quite the opposite—reshaping our own character to better reflect Jesus', so we can bring more people to Christ.
Here's what I find so extraordinary about all of this: if we, the people of God, (who believe in Jesus as the Savior, strive to live our lives according to His purpose, and call ourselves His children) still sin—we still mess up, we still turn against Him, we still make mistakes, and none of this comes as a surprise, then don't our own weaknesses showcase:
Just how much we need Jesus: even when we think we're at our best, we still fail without him—even the most "righteous" among us is nothing without him.
The infinite grace of God: even though we sin against him, even though we deserve death, if we repent, God calls us back, forgives us, and wipes away our sins as if they never existed. He makes us blameless, even though we deserve the burden of guilt. And this grace isn't just accessible to us, but to anyone, anywhere, at anytime who calls on the name of the Lord and rebukes their sins.
If the only righteous man to ever walk the earth, Jesus Christ, can forgive us who are so far below him then we, who were once ruled by sin, must extend forgiveness to others. If we truly want to live a Christ-like life, should we not model his grace and understanding above all else?
2. Our Unwillingness to Submit to a Higher Authority
We like being in control of our lives. We don't like people telling us what we can and can't do. We especially don't like people telling us we're doing things wrong. These things are all very evident in our culture today.
The reason Christianity is so unpopular is that in order to build a relationship with God and inherit the gifts of the Holy Spirit (love, peace, self-control, patience, etc.), we must first acknowledge that we cannot do it on our own. We must realize that we cannot continue to live based on our own standards.
We cannot save ourselves.
We need Jesus in our lives. We need forgiveness and hope and salvation, and the only way to attain those things is by getting out of our own way. For most people, this alone takes a ginormous amount of humility.
God is an omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), and omnipresence (everywhere at the same time) being. He's self-sustaining and morally perfect. Christianity is unpopular because the character of God has been distorted and villainized. People think of God (if they think of him at all) as an annoying, invisible spirit who's power-hungry and wants to make their lives miserable. To them, God is a character who wants to withhold good things from them. He sits around policing their lives, and He likes watching people suffer.
That's who some people think the God of the universe is because they don't know the truth. And they don't even want to know the truth because they're afraid it's going to make sense, and you know what happens then?
They either submit to God and lose their "freedom" or they continue living their life as they did before, but it's not the same because the truth is in the back of their head going:
"You know what you're doing isn't right. You know there's a better way, so why are you running away?"
Guilt is probably the worst feeling, in my opinion. I think a lot of people avoid church and Christianity for that very reason—they don't want the guilt. And why should they?
Now, we don't have time to go through the entire character of God in this post, but if you want a good book on God, read Knowing God by J.I. Packer. Here are a few of the misconceptions about God, as mentioned above, explained:
1. God wants people to suffer
If Christianity is true, that means heaven and hell are real. That also means everyone ever born will either spend eternity in heaven with God or in hell with Satan. It means the Resurrection really happened. It means Jesus, and everything he taught and prophesied, is the truth. It also means that Jesus is the only way to escape hell (which is eternal torment and suffering for ever and ever). Hell, surprisingly, is more talked about in the Bible than heaven, and is explained in many, many verses. These particular verses talk about the end of times, and what will happen to Satan and those who turn away from God:
"And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:10-15)
So if we all live forever either in heaven or hell, then what we do in this life is extremely important because it determines where we spend eternity. How does this tie into God not wanting us to suffer, you might ask? Because if God wanted us to suffer, He wouldn't have given us Jesus as an escape. He wouldn't have given humanity a second chance. He would have let us rot in hell, but since He is full of grace, He offers eternal life in heaven to anyone who repents of their sins.
I don't understand why people get so offended when hell is discussed. Christianity is not restricted to a certain elite group of people. When Jesus died on the cross, he gave every (I said EVERY) human being a choice—follow him and be saved or don't. God's not going to force anyone to believe, so the choice is ours. And if the choice is ours, how can we be angry at God for sending us to hell if we, as an act of free will, choose to turn away from Him?
2. God wants to take away our freedom
If Christianity is true, then Jesus did not condemn us, he set us free:
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:17
He didn't chain us and force us to follow him when he gave us the Law. He died for the forgiveness of our sins, and gave us the Law to teach us the ways of righteousness so we could inherit the gift of eternal life. The Law is our guide so we can live a righteous life. If Jesus told us to live like he lived, but didn't give us any information on how to do that, wouldn't that have been an unfair request? That's like if I asked you to drive from New York City to LA, but refused to give you any directions! That's an unfair thing to ask! But since God loves us, He provides us with the Bible, so we can not only be forgiven by Christ, but can continue to live righteously by obeying His decrees.
"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
3. God is power-hungry
Now that we have a better idea of the character of God, and what He did for humanity when He sent Jesus, how can this idea of a power-hungry, unrighteous God still exist? If God really sent Jesus to die on the cross so that we can spend eternity with Him, it would be unthinkable for us not to worship Him. HE SET US FREE! He saved us! Is He not worthy of all the glory we can give Him? We must commit our lives to Him because without Him, there would be no life at all. Hell is the second death, but Jesus overcame death when he died on the cross, so that we, in all our unrighteousness, can have eternal life.
3. Christianity Has Too Many Rules Compared to Modern Worldviews Like Atheism
When compared to other contemporary worldviews, Christianity seems to have a lot of rules. I'm aware that all civilized societies share the same basic rules as Christianity: don't steal, don't lie, don't murder, etc., and I'm in no way saying that anyone of any worldview needs the Bible to know that these things are wrong. But there are laws in the Bible that disagree with both those of other religions, and what is considered the "norm" in western civilization. I'll be focusing on these laws specifically. These laws make Christianity unattractive because they are in direct conflict with what many of us are taught by culture. And because these laws are viewed as restrictive, the choice is very easy for most people—why would I become a Christian and abide by these laws, when I could live a secular lifestyle and do whatever I please as long as it's not hurting anyone?
Here are three Christian laws that I consider incredibly unpopular, and even despised, in our modern western civilization.
1. There's one God and all other gods are false
We're living in a world where we're told that everyone can "live their own truth." Very often I hear phrases like, "there is no such thing as objective truth," or "there is truth, but we can't know it." Both of these claims are self-defeating. If there's no such thing as objective truth, how do we know there's no such thing as objective truth? If there is truth, but we can't know it, then is that statement a knowable truth? There must be an objective truth. There must be things we can claim are true beyond a reasonable doubt.
The question now is: If truth exists, what worldview is the truth? So now we have three opinions: Either all worldviews are true, either none are true (one has to be true though, even if we haven't discovered the one yet. But there's a low probability that we haven't discovered it yet, so this option can be confidently removed) or only one is true.
Well, all worldviews can't be true because all worldviews contradict one another. Look at Christianity, Atheism, and Hinduism as examples:
Christianity is monotheistic (one God)
Atheism is atheistic (no God)
Hinduism is polytheistic (multiple gods)
All of these beliefs cannot all be true at the same time because they're contradictory! Even the main monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—cannot all be true because they have different laws and traditions, and believe in different gods. (Muslims believe in Allah. Jews and Christians believe in the same God, but Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.)
All worldviews can't be true for these reasons. All religions are not all the same, contrary to contemporary beliefs. They share similarities, and they may agree on certain points, but they differ immensely when it comes to what god(s) they believe in, their prospective on the afterlife, and what they claim the purpose of life is.
2. Premarital sex is a sin
I would argue that this is the most despised law in the entire Bible, and is especially controversial in western culture today—sex is viewed as a mere physical transaction that is moral as long as it is consensual. The Bible's position on premarital sex is very clear—it is a sin—and for that reason this idea is incredibly unpopular, and is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, Atheism and other modern worldviews are more attractive.
3. Overcome evil with good
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:21
I think everyone agrees that we should be kind to people—we should help people, respect them, love them, etc.
But what about those who do us wrong? What about those who hurt us? Who insult us? Who betray us? Should we be kind to them? Should we forgive them?
I think many of us would again reply yes! We should forgive people who do us wrong.
But do we actually do it? When we get in arguments, when someone offends us, when someone breaks our heart, do we actually overcome evil with good? I don't think we do. It's easy to say, "If someone insults me, I'm not going to insult them back, I'll just quietly walk away," but when you're in the heat of the moment, what do you actually choose to do?
As Christians, we're supposed to love those who hate us because Christ loved us first. That's literally the entire point of Christianity, and it's exactly what Jesus modeled when he died on the cross. Jesus didn't just die for his disciples and those who believed, he died for the people who nailed him to the cross! He died for every person who cursed him, every person who hated him, every person who insulted him, every person who disobeyed the Law.
Christianity is built on a kind of love, grace, and redemption that is greater than any love, grace, or redemption any other worldview speaks of! That's what sets it apart. Crimes and sins that were once punishable not only by physical death, but by eternal death in hell, are now redeemed by any and all who seek that redemption. Christ didn't just die for our past sins, he died for all of the sins humanity will ever commit! He's the atonement for all sins, big or small, present, past, and future! God's grace is so vast that we cannot fully fathom it, but His love is shown to us by His son, Jesus.
It is not that this love is unpopular to receive, it is that it's unpopular to give. I do not want to love my enemy. I do not want to show kindness to those who cheat and insult me. Christianity is unpopular because Jesus calls us to take the place of the servant:
"The greatest among you shall be your servant." - Matthew 23:11
"The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters." - 1 Corinthians 6:7-8
This verse is telling us that it is better for us to be wronged than it is for us to wrong another person. We do not have to seek vengeance because we know that in the end:
"God will repay each person according to what they have done." - Romans 2:6
Thank you for reading this post! I know it was long and covered a lot of stuff, but I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting. Comment your thoughts down below or better yet shoot me a message on Instagram @writer_alexandra_lee.
It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi
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