An honest reckoning

When Christians Fail

Every honest Christian admits the church is full of failures, because it is full of forgiven sinners, not finished saints. That is not an excuse for the harm they cause; it is the plain truth the New Testament itself tells, with its leaders denying, quarrelling, and being rebuked on the page. The real question is not whether Christians fail, but whether their failures reflect Jesus or betray him. He drew the line himself, and it runs between saying his name and doing the will of God.

The Bible tells on its own heroes

Christianity does not hide the failures of its founders; its own Scriptures record them. Peter, the leading disciple, denied even knowing Jesus. The disciples argued about which of them was greatest. Paul publicly rebuked Peter for hypocrisy. A faith that wrote down the sins of its heroes is not surprised that later Christians sin too. It never claimed its people were perfect; it claimed they were forgiven.

The message is not the messenger

A truth is not disproved by those who fail to live it. Doctors sometimes smoke; that does not disprove medicine. The question about Christianity is not whether Christians have failed, obviously and grievously they have, but whether Jesus is who he said he is. His failures are the thing you will not find, and it is by him, not by us, that the faith stands or falls.

Jesus judged faith by its fruit

No one has been harder on hollow, hypocritical religion than Jesus. He warned that saying the right words is not the same as belonging to him, and that a life is known by its fruit, not its label.

When you point to a Christian whose life contradicts Christ, you are making Jesus' own argument. That gap between the name and the life is the very thing he confronted. Judge the faith, in the end, by its founder.

Frequently asked questions

Doesn't Christian hypocrisy prove the faith is false?

No. A truth is not disproved by those who fail to live it, any more than medicine is disproved by an unhealthy doctor. The question is not whether Christians fail, which they plainly do, but whether Jesus is who he claimed to be. The faith stands or falls on him.

Why are there so many hypocrites in the church?

Because the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints; it is full of forgiven people who still fail. The Bible itself records its heroes failing. What Christianity offers is not perfect people but a Saviour, and Jesus himself condemned hypocrisy more sharply than any critic.

How should I judge Christianity, then?

By Jesus, not only by his followers. Read his own words and works and weigh whether he is who he said. Christians will disappoint you, sometimes terribly; he asked to be judged by his own life, which is the one place the faith has nothing to hide.