Not Everyone has a Gift Like This

Last night a commenter took me to task for being supercilious, suggested it was inconsistent with my religion, and implied that bad Christians like me had helped him on his way down the road to atheism.

I don’t want to reflexively defend myself. I have plenty of crabby moments. I try not to be rude these days, but sometimes I still offend people. There is no doubt about it. I am what Christians kindly refer to as “a work in progress.” Sometimes I embarrass myself. What can I tell you?

On the other hand, as I noted in my response, it’s impossible for a Christian to be righteous enough to make an angry atheist happy. It can’t be done. Just as Christians look for reasons to believe, many atheists look for reasons not to believe. History shows us that angry nonbelievers may remain angry even after the Christians who make them angry are torn apart by lions or roasted alive. They even got angry when martyred saints forgave them, or when they refused to renounce God during their torments. It’s always good to try to make peace, but you can’t expect too much cooperation. On top of all that, the less atheists know about Christianity, the easier it is for them to find reasons not to believe.

Some atheists think that if you go to church regularly, you are a Christian, and if you don’t, you are not. I don’t know where that idea comes from. Christians should go to church, but attendance has no bearing on whether or not you’re a Christian. Some atheists think that you have to be good to be a Christian, and that if you’re a well-behaved atheist, you are just as well off as a Christian, with regard to eternal life. Clearly, Christians should be good, but you can behave pretty badly and still be a Christian. And if you think being good buys you eternal life, that’s swell, but Christian doctrine contradicts that notion very clearly. No Christian denomination says you can work your way into heaven. Only heretical post-Christian sects say that.

Being a Christian isn’t like belonging to AAA. It’s not like you get a card and pay dues and therefore belong. That kind of thinking may apply to some denominations, but it’s not universal. Overall, the church isn’t an earthly organization, like a bar association. You belong because you have faith. And hopefully, you try to behave in a way that reflects your faith. And you should have a personal relationship with God, which you maintain by prayer and study. I guess it’s a very hard thing to understand, from outside.

I can tell you another thing. If you want advice on how to be a good Christian, one of the best ways to get it is to disagree with an atheist. They are extremely generous with instruction. It’s not the greatest instruction available, because a lot of it is completely wrong, and most of it is motivated by self-interest, and very often, it’s just an attempt to manipulate you. Sometimes they’re right, though.

If you’re curious about Christianity, my advice to you would be to avoid judging it by the behavior of believers. Sooner or later you’ll see a Christian give someone the finger, or you’ll see some other act or attitude that is inconsistent with the Bible. Bishop Desmond Tutu once told people he disagreed with to go to hell; that had to be a dark day for the church. Human beings will always let you down, and I am a human being. The point of believing isn’t to become as wonderful and perfect as I am.

The depressing thing about all this is that I have never succeeded in persuading a single person to become a Christian, but it looks like I have pretty decent luck turning people into atheists. I must be an even worse Christian than I thought.