The Church Acting Badly: Part 1

The Church Acting Badly
A 5-Part Journey into Faith, Mistakes, and Hope for Imperfect Christians

Part 1 - The Hard Question

Why do followers of Jesus sometimes act so badly?
Have you ever met someone who said they were a Christian, but they were mean or dishonest? It is a very painful experience. Many people look at the church and see problems. They see leaders who fail and history books filled with wars.

Because of this, many people ask a hard question: "If the Christian message is so good, why are the people who follow it so bad?"

The Famous Critics
In the last few years, several famous writers have become very popular by attacking the church. These writers are called "Atheists" (people who believe there is no God). They argue that religion is actually dangerous for the world. They point to history to show that the church has caused a lot of pain.

A Shared Pain
We do not need history books to tell us this. Many of us have felt this pain ourselves. Maybe you went to a church and felt ignored. Maybe a Christian leader disappointed you.

When people act badly in the name of God, it makes us want to walk away. It makes us doubt if the Bible is true. If the followers are not "good," does that mean the message is "bad"?

Is there an answer?
It is okay to have these questions. In fact, it is important to ask them. We should not ignore the mistakes of the church. However, there is a way to look at this problem using logic.

In our next post, we will look at two simple stories that help explain why we cannot always judge a message by the people who carry it.