Reasons Not to Believe

Here are some of the reasons why you would not want to be a Christ-follower:

• ASSOCIATIONS: You would automatically be associating with some self-confessed weird and flawed people.
• FREEDOM: You would be giving up a measure of freedom and autonomy to let someone else -– God -– direct your life.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: You would be totally and absolutely accountable to God from whom there is no hiding and no secrets. Of course, if Christianity is true then you are accountable to God whether you believe it or not.
• REPUTATION: You would instantly be labeled a narrow-minded and bigoted hypocrite. While this can certainly be true of Christians, it may or may not fairly represent you. You would be following and advocating a "narrow" way which is not "politically correct."
• SELFLESS: You would be following a course of life which would focus on giving and not receiving. You would be taught to deny rather than indulge yourself.
• HARD: You would be expected to love and forgive your enemies no matter how they have treated you.
• CHANGE: You would have to change some, if not many, of your behaviors, priorities and attitudes. It would require you to give up an activity, a sin, a manner of life that you are not ready to give up. You would constantly be facing your own flaws, weaknesses, and inadequacies to allow God to change you.
• SUFFERING: You would very likely at some time suffer because of your faith in Jesus Christ.
• DEFERRED BENEFITS: Instead of living only for the "here and now" you would be investing your life in light of an eternal reality, the hope of heaven.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is a radical departure from the norms and expectations of our society. It is neither safe nor popular to consistently live as a Christ-follower. Many of His teachings are counter-intuitive. He said, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24-25). Furthermore, He requires that His followers make Him their absolute top priority: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Is a lack of "faith" the primary reason that so many do not embrace Christ and Christianity, or is it simply that being a Christ follower is so personally troublesome? As Mark Twain put it, "It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." There is a lot in the Bible that makes us squirm with discomfort. It is not the ability to "believe" that is difficult. Indeed, it is remarkable what we are willing to believe if it suits us! The list offered above is not exhaustive but it is representative of our aversion to faith in Christ.

G.K. Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." If you are not a Christ-follower, what are your reasons? I would humbly suggest that the validity of Christ's claims do not hinge on our preferences but on whether they are true. It is worth your time to check Him out.