I’ve been writing this blog twice a week for nearly four and a half years now. My objective from the beginning has been to show a true view of the Christian life. There are a lot of false stereotypes of Christians, so much so that some Christians refer to themselves as Believers instead. I fell into that trap for a short time, but I have gone back to being a Christian because I am proud of the One in whom I believe. I have spent most of my adult life fighting against stereotypes. As I have written before, ALL stereotypes are false. No two people are alike, much less an entire group of people. Stereotypes are built on opinion (usually the opinion of others) and not on reality. Whether the stereotyped group is religious, racial, political or something else, get to know ten people from that group and you will see the stereotype doesn’t fit all of them much less that entire group. The reason I say ten is that if you only get to know one of them you might think that person is just an exception to the rule, but all of the others (that you don’t know) still fit the stereotype.
Before looking at Christian stereotypes, I want to point out that not all people who claim to be Christians are spiritually born again. They think that attending church regularly or even joining a church qualifies them to take on the title of Christian. Those people are usually the ones who are used to prove the stereotypes. A friend shared a very negative post on Face Book about evangelical Christians. I respectfully commented that I have been an evangelical Christian for 67 years and my experience doesn’t match that definition. He knows me personally, so I think I am still the “exception to the rule” in his mind.
Many stereotypes of Christians have to do with a judgmental attitude toward sin and sinful lifestyles, equating it with hatred of the sinners. Jesus loves sinners, including us when we were still in sin, but He never condones sin. That is the true attitude of born again followers of Jesus. Jesus is quoted several times in scripture telling someone to “Go and sin no more!” The idea that you must accept their sinful lifestyle in order to love someone is patently untrue.
Another stereotype of Christians is that we want to force other people to believe as we do. Every born again Christian knows that it is a personal relationship with God and a decision that must be made by the individual. God has given us free will and no one can be forced to accept God’s gift of salvation. We share our faith and our story with others praying that they will make the right decision, but we can’t twist their arm or force them to believe.
Yet another Christian stereotype is that Christians are elitists who think their religion is the only way to heaven. Is it possible to be a humble elitist? Every born again Christian I know is very humble. We know that it is not our works or words that will get us to heaven, but God’s mercy and grace make the way for us. We follow Jesus because He is the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) Jesus is who He claims to be and it is humble faith in Him that will get us to heaven one day not religion.
Never let a bad experience with one or two people create a stereotype in your mind. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Don’t lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean. If a few drops are dirty, it doesn’t mean the ocean is dirty.”