The preceding sentence may be disturbing to people who claim to be Christians, but it summarizes what plenty of non-Christians around the world are saying. If you want proof, then visit websites and Internet discussion boards that are dominated by people who identify themselves as being atheists, agnostics, non-religious or religious but not Christians. Sometimes, their criticism of so-called “Christians” is inaccurate. All too often, their criticism of so-called “Christians” is woefully correct.

That latter bit of reality is one that Christians may not want to acknowledge, but refusing to acknowledge it will not make it go away. Telling Christians that they are the problem isn’t something that I take lightly or do with joy. That is because I technically* belong to their religious tribe.

[I will explain what I mean by technically after I finish with the main topic.]

Discerning why Christians say and do what they say and do is a challenge because they don’t always know the real reason. After all, Christians are still creatures of the flesh, and they are influenced by their flesh more than they like to admit. Yet, way too many Christians — especially preachers — act as if their spiritual status makes them immune to the influence of their flesh or the influence of the world. The folly of acting that way is revealed in a book that they claim is Scripture.

In the Book of Acts, Luke the Physician describes an incident which led to the creation of the first deacons: “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” — Acts 6:1 (NIV)

In short, some of the Jewish believers in Jesus were practicing ethnic bigotry. The Jewish believers who spoke Greek and practiced Greek customs were openly discriminated against by the Jewish believers who spoke only Hebrew or Aramaic and rejected Greek customs. The result of the bigotry on the part of the latter resulted in physical harm to widows of the former.

The Hebraic Jews were allegedly believers in Jesus and were taught directly by the Apostles, and yet the former still behaved like non-believing Jews in regards to ethnicity. The culture that the Hebraic Jews grew up in still influenced their thinking despite any baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit that they had received. One would be foolish to believe that the Hellenistic Jews did not have just cause to complain to the Apostles.

As it turned out, the Hebraic Jews were not the only members of the fledgling Church to let their flesh dictate how they behaved. In his writings, the Apostle Paul describes an incident in which the Apostle Peter let his flesh override the Gospel message:

“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘“You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’” — Galatians 2:11–14 (NIV)

Who among Christians will claim that the Apostle Peter hadn’t received the baptism of the Holy Spirit or hadn’t been filled with the Holy Spirit? Answer: Nobody. That is because Peter was fully equipped spiritually. Yet, he let his flesh (his fear) dictate his actions. Who among Christians will claim to be spiritually superior to the Apostle Peter? Answer: Nobody. Only false apostles, false prophets and false teachers would claim to be superior to any of the Apostles named in the New Testament.

If the Apostle Peter could be led by his flesh (which he was in the aforementioned case), then any Christian could be led by that person’s flesh, including ordained Christian ministers. In his writings, the Apostle Paul himself admits that his flesh continued to lead him astray:

“For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So, I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” — Romans 7:19–23 (NIV)

Yes, Paul admitted that he continued to do wrong even though he was one of the Apostles.

If the Apostles of the New Testament were still influenced by their flesh, then it would be naïve at best to believe that modern-day Christians, including ministers, couldn’t be influenced by their own flesh. Yes, they can be and are, and that fleshly influence leads Christians to possessing fool’s gold.

Pyrite is a mineral that is commonly mistaken for gold because of the former’s color. Geologist Dr. Hobart M. King writes, “The nickname ‘fool’s gold’ has long been used by gold buyers and prospectors, who were amused by excited people who thought they had found gold. These people did not know how to tell the difference between pyrite and gold, and their ignorance caused them to look foolish.” As it turns out, fool’s gold occurs in the spiritual realm as well as the physical realm. People who lack sufficient knowledge about the Bible’s teachings can be fooled into accepting religious claims that are not supported by the Bible or that openly contradict the Bible.

To have sufficient knowledge about the Bible’s teachings, it is necessary to understand the cultural backgrounds associated with those teachings. Here lies the rub. The books of the Bible were not originally written for modern-day cultures. Yet, those cultures strongly influence how the Bible is translated and interpreted.

In their book Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien make this observation: “Christians are tempted to believe that our mores originate from the Bible. We believe it is inappropriate or appropriate to drink alcohol, for example, ‘because the Bible says so.’ The trouble is, what is ‘proper’ by our standards — even by our Christian standards — is as often projected onto the Bible as it is determined by it. This is because our cultural mores can lead us to emphasize certain passages of Scripture and ignore others… Our hierarchy of what behaviors are better or worse than others is passed down to us culturally and unconsciously. We might assume that our mores are universal and that Christians everywhere have always felt the way we feel about things. But they aren’t, and they haven’t …”

The assumption that “our mores are universal” is the result of ethnocentrism. States SociologyGuide.com, “Closely related to the concept of cultural relativity is the concept of ethnocentrism. The world ethno comes from Greek and refers to a people, nation, or cultural grouping, while centric comes from Latin and refers, of course to the centre. The term ethnocentrism then refers to the tendency for each society to place its own culture patterns at the centre of things.”

Ethnocentrism routinely rears it ugly head whenever Christians debate each other about the way to interpret the Bible. Those who engage in ethnocentric thinking are often unaware of their ethnocentric thinking. To make matters worse, the concept of ethnocentrism gets dismissed if brought up. The pushback that one gets tends to go like this: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”

It is difficult to have a meaningful debate with people who insist that they can’t possibly be wrong with the way that they think.

I often encounter this difficulty when discussing controversial topics such as women pastors and the LGBTQ community. Here is what I have witnessed some Christians proclaiming:

“According to the Bible, _____________ is sin, and if you disagree, then you are a heretic and apostate.”

When Christians make such a proclamation, what they really mean is this:

“According to my interpretation of the Bible, _____________ is sin, and if you disagree, then you are a heretic and apostate.”

Yeah, such Christians really do believe that they have a complete and perfect knowledge of what the Bible teaches, contrary to what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:9: “For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part.”

Another way that Christians are the problem is how they handle conflicts between what the Bible allegedly says and what science and history say.

Science and history shine a light on how ancient religious texts should be interpreted. Some Christians are opposed to that light shining on the Bible. Instead of making use of that light, they take Bible passages out of cultural context and get angry when other Christians refuse to do so.

More than once I have witnessed Christians criticize science and scientists, and, in doing so, demonstrate a misunderstanding of science and scientists. The former’s science literacy is rather weak without them knowing it, and they repeat falsehoods about science that they have picked up from others.

I have witnessed such Christians explain their beliefs like this:

“According to the Bible, _____________ happened, and if you disagree, then you are a heretic and apostate.”

When they say that, what they really mean is, “According to my interpretation of the Bible, _____________ happened, and if you disagree, then you are a heretic and apostate.”

I have witnessed Twitter debates in which Christians have literally called other Christians heretics and apostates, even when the latter are genuine Christians in accordance with John 3:16, Romans 10:8–13 and 1 John 5:13.

As I see it, the former are adding their own requirements to the Gospel, with the latter being summarized by John 3:16, Romans 10:8–13 and 1 John 5:13.

So, is there a way for Christians to stop being the problem?

Of course there is, but it requires humility on the part of Christians, and the first one who needs to be more humble is me.

Like anyone else, I can get caught up in the heat of the moment and say/write things that I should not say/write.

I cannot change how others react to my statements, but I can change the way that I respond to their reactions. However, I can’t do that on my own power. If God really does exist, then I need help from him in order to change whatever is in me that needs to be changed.

When it comes to the Gospel, I can’t prevent anyone from adding to it. If people are set on doing so, then nothing that I say/write will make a difference. The best that I can so is to point to the Gospel as it is summarized by John 3:16, Romans 10:8–13 and 1 John 5:13.

Better yet, I can make sure that my walk matches my talk. I can do so by acting out the lessons found in Matthew 25:31–46, James 1:27 and James 2:15–16.

Frankly, Christians would be less of the problem if they concentrated on acting out those lessons instead of judging and condemning others.

According to my understanding of the Bible, God doesn’t need anyone’s help to deal with people who get the teachings of the Bible wrong. Also, perfect theology is not included in the fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22–23.

If nothing else, I should admit that I could be wrong about religious issues. People who disagree with me do not have complete and perfect knowledge. Neither do I.

In closing on this topic, I will repeat my begining statement:

Christianity is fine; Christians are the problem.

After my son was born, I witnessed a literal explanation of a saying that I had previously heard/read: “Do not throw the baby out with the bath water.”

When I consider all of the mistakes and harms that have come out of Christendom, I have to remind myself that Christendom is not Messiah Jesus. Christendom is not the object of my faith. Christendom will always be flawed in some way because it is operated by flawed people.

In short, Christendom is the bath water, not the baby.

By technically* I mean that I profess my own belief in Messiah Y’shua, a.k.a. Jesus. Yet in the 21st Century CE, the label Christian is tarnished. It has negative connotations for people who have been harmed by self-proclaimed Christians. So, I prefer to identify myself as a person who strives to practice the Messianic faith that was practiced and taught during the 1st Century CE.

Still, I need to have companions who also profess belief in Messiah Jesus. I cannot do life alone without suffering in some way. So, I associate with fellow believers who do not object to identifying themselves as Christians. I do so by being a member of a Christian church.

I cannot expect perfection from the church because no Christian church is perfect. I know ahead of time that I am going to disagree with some of the things that other church members believe. I know that I will not be able to convince them to see things my way. The best that I can do is to extend grace to them the same way that God extends his grace to me.

As one Christian church proclaims, “Grace changes everything.” Indeed it does.

Quote Sources

Ethnocentrism. Sociology Guide. Retrieved from https://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Ethnocentrism.php

King, H.M. Fool’s gold. Retrieved from https://geology.com/gold/fools-gold/

Richards, E.R., & O’Brien, B.J. (2012). Misreading scripture with western eyes: Removing cultural blinders to better understand the Bible. InterVarsity Press.