Christians acting so bad turn me away

Detailed Answer: 

Bad people in a church: 

• should be expected, 
• are addressed by the Bible, and will be dealt with by God, 
• do not change the fact that Christ does have measurable positive impacts on those who follow him, 
• and only speak to how fallen humanity is, how tenacious our bad tendencies are, and how easily the daily grind and our comfort can take precedence over greater and more long-term priorities.

There are people in the church who succumb to the same bad choices and behavior as people who do not follow a religion, which should not be surprising as church is a hospital for sinners, not a stage for saints. It is an odd thought that people in church would be free of sin. God is still able to use people for good, even if the people are not good themselves. The Bible lets us know people will still struggle with wrong doing (sin) even after being saved and starting their relationship with God, and that’s why church is necessary to continually support and keep our perspective correct.

What do the Bible and Jesus have to say

There are many in the church who claim, speak as, and act like Christians on the outside, but inside Christ is absent in their life. The Bible speaks about such people in a terrifying picture of religious people, who are standing before God, expecting to be brought into Heaven: 

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:21-27

Jesus and the Bible are quite harsh in speaking about those who claim to be following God and involved in religion, but are simply using God for their own selfish goals. Jesus directly addresses this, quoted in Matthew 23:27 saying: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” Jesus also gives dire warning that consequences will ultimately fall on such religious people, who, by their poor choices or behavior cause another person to stumble (fall in their relationship with God; Luke 17:1-3).

Are there “bad” people in the church? Of course, this should be expected due to the way people are, and the Bible specifically says this will happen, and gives serious warnings to those who say they are there for God, but God has little to no place in their life. And if you do want to be around hypocrites, then build an underground bunker for one, enter it, and then you will only have to deal with one hypocrite. Becoming a Christian doesn’t snap you into place and all the sudden you act good, but it does provide you with unique and amazing resources, making it much easier to becme that person we all seek to be.

There is a Difference

Even acknowledging the fact that you will run into some bad people in church, due to my background and experience, I most likely have many, many more close relationships with Christian leaders and church-goers than someone reading this, therefore I have a much greater data set to judge the difference between Christians and non-Christians, and there is a significant positive difference supporting Christianity. 

This has nothing to do with Christians being better people on their own, it is solely the impact of Christ with them that sets Christians apart. And this isn’t just my experience, this is historical and measurable through many fields of study and areas of life, which will be featured in an upcoming article. For now, just use your own experience in a simple example: Imagine you are walking alone late at night, and have to pass through a long alley in a large city. About halfway through you realize all the lights have been broken, except one above a door where a group of rough looking men walk out. The men see you, and start heading directly to you. Would it make a difference in your state of mind if you knew these guys were just leaving their Bible study?

It is nonsense to judge Christianity by people who are not following Christ. Do I expect a relationship with Jesus to have greater effect on believers, making them even more different from non-believers than I have observed? Yes, I do, as I personally experience what having a relationship with God brings, and I am very disappointed in many in the church, including myself. This speaks loudly to how fallen humanity has become, how tenacious our issues are, and how easily the daily grind and our comfort can take precedence over greater and more long-term priorities. However, this says nothing about all the ways actual followers of Christ have added to this world, and could add to your life, nor to all the evidence validating the claims of Jesus and what a relationship with him, and with other believers will mean for you.

One able to be led away from God because of people, only exposes a person whose belief is not founded on the right thing. If you reject seeking God and all a relationship with him offers because of the poor way some religious people act, then my question to you would be not what you have against Christians or religion, but what do you have against Jesus, what against God? Because you are rejecting relationship with God based on problems within other people.