Some don’t ever come to faith in Christ. Even if they do come around Christians or the church out of curiosity, they are at times discouraged and disillusioned in their interactions. This is a real problem for the modern church. It’s one thing for inquiring non-Christians to misunderstand Jesus or to have a valid encounter with Him yet conclude they’re better off without Him. It’s quite another thing for inquiring non-Christians to be “turned off” from the person of Jesus due to the actions of His supposed followers. According to 1 Pet. 2:12, however, Christians don’t have the luxury of ignoring the impact of their witness on a lost world.
The aforementioned verse reads:
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
There are a couple things to note about this passage. First, in context, the reference to “Gentiles” (from the un-inflected Greek, ετθνος/ethnos) seems to point to pagan or non-Christian groups, not the group sometimes contrasted with non-Israelites. Second, the “so that” lets us know why Peter emphasized honorable conduct among the Gentiles. It was to the glory of God. If this weren’t enough, we also have Scriptures such as 2 Cor. 8:21, Phil. 2:15, and Tit. 2:8 reinforce this pure conduct idea.
For a variety of reasons (see some of those reasons below), Christians aren’t blameless when it comes to the world’s perception of Jesus. It’s heartbreaking to share one’s faith with another person who has valid claims of wrongdoing at the hands of supposed believers. I’ve encountered this more often than I care to count. This is not merely those who have experienced church hurt but also those who have had their faith shattered because they found out they were taught false things about the Lord Jesus—things that sound good and may be common in church but aren’t Scripture and aren’t true.
Here are just some of the reasons the Christian witness is flawed, and it’s by no means exhaustive:
- False teaching and squishy doctrine (see 2 Tim. 4:3; Tit. 2:1)
- False Christians assumed to be part of the church due to their attendance in a church (see Matt. 7:21-24; Matt. 13:25-30; Matt. 13:36-40)
- Christians abandoning elements of holiness altogether as though intellectual assent to Jesus is enough (see Rm. 6:1-2; Heb. 12:14; Jms. 2:19)
- Failure to properly address salacious scandal like adultery and unbiblical divorce by church leaders (see 2 Cor. 5:1-6 )
- Failing to address subtle sins like bullying and undercover cruelty (see Eph. 4:31-32)
- Failure to report or abide by civil laws when it comes sexual assault and sexual acts regarding minors (see Rm. 13:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:1-6)
- Overemphasis on fill-in-the-blank (politics, doctrinal differences with others, the superiority of one denomination over other, etc.) (see 1 Cor. 15:3-4)
- Failing to preach the cross (see 1 Cor. 1:22-24)
In keeping this message brief, I implore all believers (myself included) to live a life worthy of the gospel. Christ is too gracious, magnificent, and precious to be blasphemed by the unbelieving. His blood was shed on our behalf; He took what we deserve. We ought to be ever-mindful of this sobering truth, and if non-Christians refuse to follow Him, let it be solely because they despise the Light, not because the Light has been obstructed by our darkness.