Why is it that many people are antagonistic toward Christianity and those who wear the name of Christ? Many might think it’s because Christianity is too harsh, too narrow, too judgmental, and too irrelevant. But that’s really not the reason. Truth be told, people find Christianity offensive for one surprising reason…LOVE.
Yes, love! I’m convinced that love is the one thing that makes Christianity too difficult and too offensive. Let me explain…
- Love demands Christians to forgive (Matthew 18:21-22), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians to bless and treat their enemies with kindness (Romans 12:20), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians must rid their lives of racism and prejudice (James 2:1,9), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians to confront sin and sinners (Proverbs 27:6 ; Ephesians 5:11), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians to practice church discipline (1 Corinthians 5:4-5), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians to make great monetary sacrifices for the kingdom’s sake (Acts 4:32-37), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians to give others the benefit of the doubt and don’t judge their motives (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), but many people don’t want to do that.
- Love demands Christians to commit themselves to absolute allegiance and obedience to all that Jesus commanded (John 14:15), but many people don’t want to do that.
Do you see my point? It’s not that Christianity is too harsh, too narrow, too judgmental, too irrelevant; it’s because Christianity commands “LOVE” and love is hard to obey. That’s why Christianity is so offensive to some people. It’s because the two greatest commands of Christianity, which undergird all of it, are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves…and some people just don’t want to do that. Give it some thought.