7 Ways to Stop Being “That Kind” of Christian

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First impressions.

They can make you, but more times than not, they break you. That’s because people don’t want to waste their time, money, or lives in a lost cause. This is true in the world of business where it’s vital to have a customer’s first experience be a positive and engaging one.

It’s also true of the Kingdom of God, and the earthly section of it we like to call “The Church”. Unfortunately many agnostics, skeptics, and other groups that have rejected Jesus have done so because of his representatives. Those of us that are passionate about our God and reaching out to the lost have all felt our stomachs turn when we hear about what another Christian said and did to people we’re trying to share the good news with.

Here’s 7 ways to stop being “that kind” of Christian. The kind that gives Jesus a bad name and makes it harder for other believers to share their faith.

Be a Log Looker, Not a Speck Seeker

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In Matthew 7, Jesus coyly asks his followers and us a rhetorical question – “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own?” It’s easy to find the faults of everyone around us. As strange as it seems, sometimes it is much easier to see a very small fault or failing in someone else’s eye than to see our own Achilles heel. But if we’re ever going to win over the trust of this skeptical world, we’ve to learn how to see our own logs before we notice the specks around us. We’ve got to come to terms with the fact that we are broken. Very broken. And we’ll never stop needing Jesus. Only then can we authentically share the good news – because it will still be relevant for us.

Find Friends Outside of Church

Although the need to immerse ourselves in our local church community is great, we still need to stay in touch with the rest of the world. Otherwise we end up being a hermit crab Christian that is heavenly minded they are no earthly good. These friends can’t just be projects that we grace with our presence, but people that we trust, and that trust us. We have to have their respect, and even had some potentially awkward conversations about our differing beliefs. It’s mighty easy to convince yourself that you love the world when you don’t ever have to actually deal with it. We must actually be IN the world AND not OF it at the same time. That was kind of the whole idea.

Know You Don’t Have All of the Answers

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Although we have the best gift any of us could have hoped for in Scripture, sometimes we still don’t know every answer thrown at us. Some of the absolute worst theology we’ve all heard was some junk some preacher spouted off because he didn’t want to admit that he hasn’t found the answer to some questions. There are some legitimately tough questions out there about life, and the application of the Bible to our reality. Why do some people get healed and others don’t? Why are some babies born mentally and physically handicapped? What is God’s purpose for all of the pain and loss in this life? These are the sort of questions that should be answered with a cliché and casual response. They need care and they need concern.