Christians Give Christianity a Bad Name

The wicked things done in the name of religion were one of the major reasons I rejected any involvement with any religion. There is a disgracefully long list of crimes that the Christian religion has been used to justify, including violence, fraud, greed, corruption and all kinds of atrocities. A few examples readily spring to mind:
Spanish Inquisition and the torturing of heretics

• Institutionalised child abuse within the Catholic Church
• Sectarian violence in Northern Ireland
• Catholics and Protestants burning each other at the stake
• The crusades in the Middle Ages
• Selling of dubious relics claiming to be from Jesus or other saints
• False TV evangelists who are always ready for your credit card

And I know there are many more that could be mentioned, but the most distressing fact is religion is still abused in this way.

What I have come to recognise is that you can’t blame God for the actions of those who claim to be Christian. God teaches us through the Bible and the example of the life of Jesus how we should conduct ourselves; acting always out of love. This central Christian message is separate to the actions of people, however much they claim to be Christian. People after all are only human; they get things wrong, have imperfect motives and are clearly capable of great wrongs. To deny the message of God because of the actions of some followers would be like blaming a football team for the behaviour of its supporters or blaming parliamentary democracy for the MPs expense scandal.

Christianity is primarily about a person’s relationship with God. He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us, but has granted us the free will to decide for ourselves whether we want this relationship. A Christian does not necessarily have to be part of a church or organised religion; it can be a very personal matter.

I have found developing a relationship with God a difficult concept to get to grips with and have been surprised to find many mature Christians also have difficulties. Like any other relationship it grows from small beginnings. It takes time and builds through prayer, which is just talking to God. I find encouragement in books by other Christians, reading about their experiences helps develop your own faith. I now enjoy going to church where I meet other Christians and feel part of a community (the Christian word for this is fellowship). Through church I have joined a house group where we study Christian teachings.

I now see church as a community of like minded individual Christians who come together to worship God.