“Worldly people know what Christians should act like better than Christians do. They know when you’re not living like a Christian!”
This is an oft-repeated bit of fundamentalist lore and like most fundy lore it contains a smidgen of truth…but only a smidgen. Surely most unsaved people would say that Christians shouldn’t shoot people in cold blood or steal from their employer but that’s not generally the point that the fundy is trying to make.
Indeed, many fundamentalists seem to think that deep down most unsaved people really think that women should only wear skirts, that the movie house is a wicked place, and that the J.C. Penny catalog is just as bad as pornography. Yet even though the unsaved know all these things are evil they just purposely ignore their own better judgment and do them anyway. It’s just like the days of Noah minus the fountain of youth water vapor.
Since the unsaved person has all these fundamentalist values emblazoned on their conscience, a Christian who breaks any of the legion of fundy rules might drive them away from Christ. After all the lost person KNOWS what the Christian should be doing and they’ll think they’re just a hypocrite and never listen to the gospel ever again! And all this because in a moment of weakness a Christian wanted to see the latest Disney film in surround sound.
For shame.
I felt bad because there weren’t any comments on this post. 🙁
Here you go 😀
Another manipulative technique to make sure the sheeple do not stray beyond the legalistic boundries set by by the extra-biblical standards found in their particular bunker’s covenant.
sounds like the logic BJU uses for all their silly rules.
Heard this more than once. “They’re watching you to see how you live, to see if there’s anything to it! If you falter they may never come to know Christ!” So your god is so weak that if someone sees me coming out of Kroger with a bottle of A&W root beer (because we all know it looks like a real beer bottle!) then they’ll never come to know him? Nice.
I asked some lost friends one time if they thought Christians shouldn’t drink, and they said, “As long as they don’t get drunk, what’s the problem?”
Most fundie churches ban members from drinking because according to them, it will offend the unsaved. Even many evangelicals who don’t have that ban also agree on abstinence.
But when I asked many non-Christian friends what they think about it, they say they don’t understand why Christians followed all these “nitty-gritty” rules and regulations.
Many “rules and regulations” in the name of “giving offence to none” and “sparing the weaker brother” are just Romans 14 and 1 Cor. 10 taken out of context to support the fundies’ cultural views.
I’m pretty sure our weird rules only scare the unsaved away from us. What am I supposed to say to an unsaved person, “God loves you – accept His gift so you can start wearing skirts, give at least 10% of your earnings to the church, read only the KJV, never go to a movie or drink alcohol again.” Really? That’s what the gospel is about?
If they can’t accept instruction and reproof, it wasn’t God’s will for them to be saved in the first place. 😆
Oh, so that means if these weaker ones go to Hell, then it’s God’s fault? 😈
I don’t believe that myself, but that argument has been made more than once.
This is one of those issues that bugs the fire out of me! Unfortunately it’s one thing unsaved people do which I feel is a cop out. They will say a Christian is a hypocrite over the littlest things. So you’re not allowed to be human, you’re supposed to be perfect all the time or you’re a hypocrite.
Case in point. We rented an upstairs apartment over an elderly couple who were the grandparents of a friend of mine at my church. These people were not saved and my friend had been witnessing to them but so far they had not responded. She thought having Christians rent from them would give them a testimony. My husband did witness to the man but he was a very vulgar man. I just acted as friendly with them as I could.
Ok a month or so later one day my husband and I had an argument and I went into the bedroom and slammed the door. A week or so later my friend told me her grandmother had wondered about this Christian couple having a fight. She didn’t think Christians did that! My friend asked me about it and I said, so we had a fight, are we not allowed to be human? We ended up making up but since they heard a door slam supposedly our testimony was shot. These people were looking for any excuse. It was like, “Don’t tell us about your God, that supposedly Christian couple upstairs had an argument! They’re no better than we are!”
I have run into this on several occasions. I am a naturally friendly person and try to be upbeat most of the time but if I’m not feeling well or I’m tired I can get rather cranky. I had some unsaved co-workers notice that I was cranky one day and they were questioning how I could be that way. Dang it I’m human! Why are Christians not allowed to be human? Every little thing will blow your testimony it seems. I think these people are looking for any excuse and it’s nothing but a cop out. 👿
Non-Christians DO know how Christians are supposed to act. Sadly, few Christians really act that way. Non-Christians may not know the fruits of the spirit by name, but they are fully well aware that we are supposed to be kind, loving and generous. They don’t give a flying fig about pants or music. They want to see us REALLY living our faith.
I’ve seen non-Christians demonstrate more fruits of the spirit on occasion …
And while I’m on that note (and sorry about rambling — coffee has not yet hit the bloodstream), I love that meme that reminds us that if you need religion to act like a decent person, you pretty much just suck.
Here’s the true grain of truth in the hundredweight of nonsense: nonbelievers will be able to see the hypocrisy in your life far more clearly than you ever will. If you talk about Jesus, the Faith, Grace, and Salvation but don’t reflect your beliefs in what you say, they’ll know it. The Fundy approach of strictly regulating outward behavior “so that the unGodly are not turned off’ is really internal deception – they deceive each other and themselves about their state of holiness. It’s very sad, and utterly unproductive.