the most dangerous misconception about christianity: "Christianity is Not Relevant Today!"
The Charge: "Christianity was great for the folks 2000 years ago who didn't know better!" "Science has dis-proven the 'fables' of Christianity." "Christianity is a crutch for those who cannot take care of themselves, or who need something to hope for because they have too many failures or troubles in their lives." "Times have changed, and Christianity is out of date." Whatever the charge, a very popular sentiment in our time is that 'Christianity Is Not Relevant To Our Modern Lives Today!"
Let's Think About This - Lets consider the meaning behind this claim,
and ask ourselves some very important questions. Would you
act upon something even if you knew it isn't true? Would you
accept something as true once you are convinced of the evidence, or
despite the evidence? These seem like simplistic questions -
think of your answers to them as you consider the discourse below:
There are many 'apparent' reasons that we could make the claim
of Irrelevance:
"Christianity Is Too Restricting" - 'Thou shalt not'
is sometimes seen as the mantra of a Christian. This is too
bad, since real Christianity is about freedom! Christians
believe that they are saved by grace, through faith, not by what they
do or don't do! It is the love of the Lord they have for
doing what He did for them, that causes them to obey His
commands. AND, His commands 'are not burdensome', and are
indeed intended for the benefit of mankind (the world might just be a
better place if everyone loved their neighbor as themselves!)
"Christianity Is Too Boring" - A fellowship of
loving, caring, and intellectually honest and open people is the most
exciting social aspect of Christianity. Many non-believers
seek this social acceptance, many with disastrous results!
And, when the Holy Spirit enters your life and a loving relationship
with Christ is experienced, the things that you may think are 'fun'
today sure seem a mile away! In short, your focus and purpose
in life will be different (a result of being spiritually 'born again')
and you will realize that you finally grasp the 'meaning of life'.
Christianity Is Misunderstood - Many people have
been 'put off' by a bad relationship with a 'Christian' or have had
trouble accepting or understanding a particular Church's
doctrine. The worst thing that a Christian can do is be
judgmental or critical. In reality, Christians are no
'better' than the worst 'sinner', and should realize that the only
difference is that we are 'saved'. The Church is intended to
be like a hospital for sick people, instead of a cliquish den of
self-righteous piety. A healthy Church will provide education
and accountability, but be balanced with a strong social cohesion and
care network for those inside and outside the Church. It is
the place to be when you need help, inclusion, or a place to go to be
safe. Properly understood, the Church is a refuge in the
storm.
Now let's think of some of the reasons why
Christianity is indeed relevant to our lives today:
Christianity Is Livable (It Is Our History and our Culture!)
- In the West, we enjoy the benefits of a social system based upon
Judeo-Christian values. Our freedoms, our responsibilities,
and our morals that we have (for the most part) 'grown up on' are based
directly on a foundation of values that God has placed in us, for our
benefit and for us to seek Him. Any other system of morality
is ultimately un-livable (Atheism, New Age, etc etc) because they
generally all, by default, still utilize the framework of values that
has been established by God and Christ, not the values that they
prescribe for themselves (which would certainly make THEM
irrelevant!). A denial of this comes either from ignorance of
history, or from a misunderstanding of the values that we enjoy vs.
what each other worldview prescribes. Just attempt to live
your life without a baseline of freedom, equality, hope, purpose, or
meaning, as the others would have you do! You see,
Christianity is relevant to you in this regard already - we simply need
to ponder and acknowledge it! (See the questions regarding
Relativism and Meaning)
Christianity Is Intuitive (It's Obvious) - Do we
really believe that something (indeed everything!) came from
nothing? Show me the evidence of that! Did the
'laws of science' evolve from randomness? Is there ANY
evidence of that? The Naturalists just presume they always
existed! Indeed, the recent observations of science point to
a beginning of the creation, and the rapid expansion of life (not the
slow evolution, as evidenced by the 'Cambrian Explosion'). We
can also easily see the fallen nature of man (just watch the news any
day), as well as feel our desire for acceptance, comfort and hope (our
'religious instincts'). When we realize these things,
Christianity seems more and more reasonable, just from our daily
observations of life! (How's that for relevant?!)
Christianity Is Needed (Comforting) - Speaking of
our 'religious instinct', when we are honest with ourselves and
acknowledge the shortcomings of our human nature, we then realize that
we spend enormous amounts of energy and resources attempting to be
'happy'. The problem is, that all that working to be happy
rarely ever succeeds! When we finally acknowledge that we are
in fact not the center of the universe, and that there is a higher
purpose to which we can aspire, we become set free from the treadmill
of the pursuit of happiness/disappointment, and also see past the
inevitable problems of life (especially our human weaknesses,
sicknesses and death!) and look toward the hope of fulfillment of our
purpose in Christ! (True happiness - extremely relevant!)
Christianity Is TRUE! - Most importantly (in fact,
the only 'real' reason - the others are just 'side benefits'!) is the
fact that Jesus is indeed the Christ! The Apologetics
(defenses of the faith) as well as the assurances of the Holy Spirit to
our hearts lead us to the conclusion this Christianity is
True. Any denial of Truth is clearly Not Relevant!
A person may as well deny the rising of the sun or the inevitability of
death - Truth is Truth whether we want to acknowledge it or
not! The acceptance of this fact goes beyond declaring
Christianity relevant, and now forces us to consider whether our
personal beliefs are relevant, if we indeed choose not to believe!
The pages on this website, as well as the myriad of references
included, seek to persuade that Christianity is a reasonable concept,
and indeed the TRUTH. But a clear understanding of the
evidences can only be obtained if an open mind is present, free of
misconceptions and preconceived problems. Please consider
this as you take the time to review the further evidences of
Christianity.