Misconceptions of Christianity

Introduction

I am assuming that anyone who reads this is already familiar with the basics of the Christian religion. If for some reason you have never heard much of it (or if it's been a while and you forgot), then click here before reading the following information. If you are already familiar with Christianity, it still might be a good idea to read the introduction, but it is by no means necessary.

Blah, blah, blah

You've probably heard it all before a million times. God created the universe, Jesus came and died for our sins, if you accept him you'll go to heaven, blah, blah, blah. But you still haven't become a Christian. Therefore, I'm not going to waste my time and yours by simply repeating the same thing to you. Instead, I'll pick out likely reasons why you don't want to be a Christian and show you why it's not really so bad in normal English! Abstract metaphor-free!

Enough with the introductions already. Time to get to the good stuff.

LIES!

There are almost too many misconceptions people have about Christians and Christianity to count. I've listed several of them below to help clear things up.

• Christians can't have any fun. Christianity is all doom and gloom and "I am not worthy". The Ten Commandments can be summed up in one: Thou shall not have fun.

  This couldn't be farther from the truth. Just being on this website should prove this misconception dead wrong. I mean, we're Christians and we build and fight killer robots, for crying out loud! How much more fun can you get than that? Christians can do just about anything anyone else can do - video games, sports, movies, concerts (even heavy metal and rap, for those who like that style of music), comedy, hanging out with friends, you name it. They just need to be more careful that what they do isn't overly violent, hurtful to others, deceptive, etc.

• Christianity is all fun and games. If you're a Christian, nothing bad will ever happen to you again and the rest of your life will be happy and peaceful.

  I'm not going to lie to you - the opposite of the first misconception is, unfortunately, not true either. While Christians DO have a lot of fun, they also have their fair share of hardships just like everyone else. They may even have more hardship than others, depending on their environment. However, having God on your side makes it a lot easier to endure, and remember - in the end it will be worth it.

• God is a wimp. He's all "turn the other cheek" and never does anything.

  Again, this couldn't be farther from the truth. God is anything but a wimp, he's just patient. "Turning the other cheek" only for a time, giving us people time to become Christians before he loses his patience. And you DON'T want to be on his bad side when that happens.

  Why not? Well, in the early history of Israel, the nation of Assyria (the most feared and powerful nation of its day) was invading. God decided to send an angel to save the little country from the invading army. That one angel wiped out the ENTIRE ARMY single-handedly. And that's just ONE angel - God has millions of them at his disposal, which are much less powerful than God himself.

  Also, the Bible predicts that at the end of the world, when God finally loses his patience, one man (the Antichrist) will control everything. His entire army will gather near Megiddo, where it will fight God's army (the apocalypse; Armageddon). It will be a SLAUGHTERFEST. The entire world's army won't even stand a chance against millions of angels plus God himself. Like Shrederator and Tombstone teamed up against Stewbot. In fact, it is predicted that the world's army will literally be wading in blood.

  Does that sound wimpy? I sure don't think so, and I certainly don't want to be on God's bad side. There are also many other examples of God being very un-wimplike in the Bible, but I want to keep this short and will let you look them up yourself. Nobody wants to have a wimpy master, and God is anything but. ph34r t3h 41migh7y G0d!

• I'm not good enough/It's too late for me. I'm too prone to giving in to temptation, I mess up too often, and/or it's too late now to become a Christian.

  If you've read the Bible, you should know that this idea is complete baloney with a little bologna mixed in. Just look at Paul - he was the equivalent of a Nazi, barging into people's homes and arresting them for no reason other than their religion and sometimes killing them. But he grew up later to be one of the greatest (perhaps even THE greatest) Christians ever known.

  Or look at the thief that was killed with Jesus. He was just minutes away from death and probably had a really messed-up life considering the punishment the government gave him (death by slow, painful suffocation by hanging on a cross, the most cruel and painful method of execution available). But at the last minute, he changed his mind at decided to become a Christian. Even though he never got to do anything, he still got into heaven.

  Or look at some of the Old Testament characters - Joseph, David, Samson. They all had serious problems with some sin, but God still loved them and used them in his plans.

  So as you can see, it's NEVER too late and it's impossible to be too messed-up for God.

• I can do whatever I want! Since following all the rules isn't required, why even try?

  In theory, you could blatantly disregard the Ten Commandments and still get into heaven if you were sincerely sorry for your actions, asked forgiveness, and lived the other part of your life as a Christian. But in practice, it is highly unlikely if you're doing it on purpose and I would NOT recommend it. Because if you think that way, chances are that you're not really sorry for your actions and God won't be very pleased with you. In addition, if a Chrisitan lived the exact same way as a non-Christian, they would be a hypocrite and probably wouldn't cause many others to want to be a Christian.

• Christians are all stuck up, high and lofty bigots. They all think they're better than everyone else, they hate anyone that's not a Christian, and I want nothing to do with them.

  Unfortunately, this is true of some Christians. But pay attention to the key word here: SOME. Many Christians are just the opposite, the way they are supposed to be. A good Christian knows that they are no better than anyone else; everyone is equally stained by sin. They also don't hate anyone - just the bad things that people do (unfortunately, opposing such things is often perceived as hating the people that do them, which is another misconception).

  If you went to a good church, you'd be surprised at how accepting the people are. But the key word here is "good". Some churches can be rather cold; if that happens, just try another one - don't draw inaccurate conclusions based on a small popuulation.

• Heaven would be boring. It's like an eternal church service where you float around on clouds and play a harp. No way would I want to go there.

  Believe it or not, some Christians even have this misconception. I don't know where it comes from, because the Bible is pretty clear that Heaven is anything but boring. You can even realize this just by logic. First off, with God right there, there would be no need for church or even religion. Secondly, since Heaven is a perfect place, it would be impossible to get bored.

  Heaven is a real place in a real world that you can actually physically go to, and whose inhabitants can actually physically come here. It's not some abstract wonderland existing only in some mystical "spirit realm". The Bible describes Heaven as an actual city, minus all the crime, poverty, and pollution that plagues our cities. Everyone gets a big house to live in with lots of stuff (many times more than the amount of stuff you could ever get on Earth). There is a good chance that there are animals there too. You can also chat with anybody who ever lived (that made it to heaven), or even God himself, face-to-face and find out everything you ever wanted to know about anything. Or perhaps you like humor? God certainly has a sense of humor - just look at some of the animals he created, like the elephant or the lemming - and could certainly come up with some real divine comedy (sorry for the bad pun, I couldn't resist). And that's just the start. If you want a more in-depth look at what Heaven might be like, there is a book about it (entitled "Heaven") by Randy Alcorn.

Excuses, excuses.

People make up all kinds of reasons why they don't want to be a Christian. I've listed some of the most common ones and tried my best to show why they're not very good.

• God/afterlife doesn't exist. So Christianity is false, and there's no reason to follow it.

  Like most religions, Christianity is mostly faith-based. That is, you just have to believe it is right without any proof. However, there is some evidence to support it.

  According to the Bible, Jesus appeared to his group of disciples after he died and came back to life. He told them to go out into the world and convert people to Christianity. They did so, and Christianity grew from a group of 11 guys to one of the major religions of the world. Now imagine if Jesus didn't come back to life. His closest followers had just seen him brutally beaten and hung in a most unpleasant manner. Would they have gone and preached Jesus' teachings and even died for them? No, they would have been sorely disappointed that their supposed God couldn't save himself, and they most likely would have gone into hiding for fear they would be hung too (I know I would do that if he really didn't come back to life).

  Now suppose Jesus never existed, and the Bible is fake. Surely these guys wouldn't have got together and said, "Let's make up a religion!" And even if they had, it wouldn't have gotten very far without an actual Jesus doing miracles to support it. Or what if Jesus really did exist, but he wasn't really God? Well then, he wouldn't be able to do miracles, so nobody would have believed him without this proof.

  In addition, the Bible is historically accurate. Numerous biblical events and places, like Noah's Ark, the destruction of Jericho, and the Israelites' enslavement by Egypt have been discovered to be most likely true by archaeologists. If the history is accurate, then there's a better chance the theology is too.

  "But what about evolution?" you might ask. "There's so much evidence for it, it's basically a fact." True, but just because evolution happened doesn't mean creation couldn't have. A common misconception is that creation and evolution are mutually exclusive. On the contrary, it is entirely possible that God created life and then let it evolve in a hybrid of the two theories. After all, he took six "days" (which as far as we know could have been billions of years, considering there was no sun back then to count days by) to create the universe when he could have created it all instantaneously just as easily. He could have even created the universe via a Big Bang explosion (that original matter had to come from somewhere, after all.)

  But really, it doesn't matter how God created the universe, just that he did.

  I'm no pastor, nor am I a scientist, so you'd also probably do well to do a Google search or something for more evidence for God and the afterlife. It is out there.

• There are too many rules to follow. I want to be in control of my own life and do what I want, not obey all these crappy rules.

  Honestly, following the rules isn't as bad as it sounds. You can still have plenty of fun (see "Christians can't have any fun"). In fact, God wants us to be happy. He doesn't like seeing people suffer. The rules were not put in place to spoil our fun, rather, they were put in place to protect us from harm, like underage drinking laws or seat belt laws.

  Besides, following the rules isn't even the main thing in Christianity. It's not what you DON'T do that matters, it's what you DO do. Nobody is perfect, and everyone will end up breaking some of the rules, intentionally or unintentionally, at some time in their life. But it doesn't really matter as long as you're sorry and ask forgiveness. But remember, that doesn't mean you can ignore the rules (see "I can do whatever I want!").

  Just do what really matters - making good use of your life for God - and you'll be fine.

• The cost isn't worth it. I'd have to make too many changes in my life and/or give up to many things to become a Christian.

  Dude. We're talking about eternal life here. Immortality. Invincibility. And not only that, but immortality in a perfect world free of pain. And for what? Giving up a few sinful habits, possibly changing your beliefs, and enduring possible dislike from other people.

  It doesn't take a PhD in economics to figure out that THIS IS A GREAT DEAL. Your seventyish-year time on Earth, which is the time you may have to endure some pain for being a Christian, is so short compared to the infinite amount of time you'll spend in Heaven that it's a joke. Kind of like giving away all your money in order to have it multiplied by thirty billion and then given back to you a minute later. If you think ANY earthly price is too much for what God's selling... well, you need to get your priorities straightened out.

• I'm not good enough/It's too late for me. This misconception is also a common reason for not becoming a Christian. See "I'm not good enough/It's too late for me" above.

That's all I can think of for now. If I think of any more stuff I'll add it here. In the meantime, I hope this page has been helpful. And if you want more in-depth answers to more specific things, then I'd recommend going to a pastor (which I am not). Good luck!