The Exodus From Christianity Has Been Caused by Christians
Growing up in the Church, I was taught that the worst thing one could be was a non-believer; that nothing was as tragic as a doomed soul that condemned itself by rejecting God.
The religion of my childhood drew a sharp, clear line between the saved and the damned. All that mattered was making sure someone found themselves on the better side of this line—and the Atheists and Humanists didn't have a shot.
In light of this supposed truth, the heart of the faith (I was told), was to live in a way that reflected the character and love of Jesus so vividly, so beautifully, that others were compelled to follow after him; that a Christian's living testimony might be the catalyst for someone's conversion. The Bible called it "making disciples," and it was the heart of our tradition. As the venerable hymn declared, people were supposed to know we are Christians by our love.
What a difference a couple of decades make.
Just ask around, now.
People outside the Church will tell you: love is no longer our calling card. It is now condemnation, bigotry, judgment, and hypocrisy. In fact, the Christianity prevalent in so much of America right now isn't just failing to draw others to Christ; it is actively repelling them from him. By operating in a way that is in full opposition to the life and ministry of Jesus, that counterfeit religion is understandably producing people fully opposed to the faith that bears his name.
In record numbers, the Conservative American Church is consistently and surely making Atheists—or at the very least, it is making former Christians; people who no longer consider organized religion an option because the Jesus they recognize is absent. With its sky-is-falling hand-wringing, its political bed-making, and its constant venom toward diversity, it is giving people no alternative but to conclude that, based on the evidence of people professing to be Godly, that God is of little use. This God may in fact, be terribly toxic.
And that's the greatest irony of it all: that the very Evangelicals who've spent the last 50 years in this country demonizing those who reject Jesus are now the single most compelling reason for them to do so. They are giving people who suspect that all Christians are self-righteous, hateful hypocrites, all the evidence they need. The Church is confirming the outside world's most dire suspicions about itself.
People rejecting Evangelical Christian nationalism aren't stupid. They realize that bigotry, even when it is wrapped in religion or justified by the Bible or spoken from a pulpit, is still bigotry. They can smell the putrid stench of phony religion from a mile away—and this version of the Church, frankly, reeks of it. People are steering clear in droves, choosing to find meaning and community and something that resembles love outside its gatherings.
With every persecution of the LGBTQ community, with every unprovoked attack on immigrants, with every planet-wrecking decision, with every regressive civil rights move of these professed believers, the flight from Christianity continues. Meanwhile, the celebrity preachers and professional Christians publicly feign disbelief about the multitudes walking away from God, oblivious to the fact that they are the impetus for the exodus.
And one day soon, these same religious folks will look around, lamenting the empty buildings and the irrelevance of the Church and a world that has no use for it, and they'll wonder how this happened. They'll blame a corrupt culture, or the woke liberal media, or a wholesale rejection of Biblical values, or the devil himself—but it will be none of those things.
No, the reason the Church soon will be teetering on the verge of extinction and irrelevance will be because those entrusted to perpetuate the love of Jesus in the world lost the plot so horribly, and gave the world no other option but to look elsewhere for goodness and purpose and truth.
Soon, these Evangelicals will ask why so much of America has rejected Jesus, and we will remind them of these days and assure these people haven’t rejected Jesus at all.
They just found no evidence of Jesus in them.
In the comments, share the ways the hatred and hypocrisy of professed Christians have shaken your faith, driven you from the Church, or reinforced your opposition to organized religion.
Yup. I'm fed up with organized religion. Between the associate pastor making a crude and inappropriate comment toward me, and the hypocrisy, I've had more than enough. I've teasingly told friends that I've become a druid. Not quite true, but I do look upon forests as beautiful and spiritual cathedrals. Nature and gardening offer what the church no longer can in terms of communing with the Divine.
I grew up Church of Christ and much of my family still is. I have become an atheist over the last 5-6 years. I was in it for almost 40. I’m a highly sensitive person and consider what I was raised in religious trauma.
I think it’s all made up.
Sure makes Easter feel lonely and weird. I’m so glad to have the husband I have who shares my views and who can sit with me while I heal. I’m also a therapist now and religious trauma is a main niche of mine. John, your column is appreciated more than you know.