I’ve been thinking about the benefits of Christianity recently. We all know the clichés: We’re blessed. God’s favor. His mercies are new every morning. I don’t want to minimize those things. They’re all true, but they’ve been so overused as to nearly lose their meaning. They have become trite. Clichés that have no real substance anymore. And what about non-believers? I mean, how do we convince them that Christianity is better for them personally than the life they are living? That’s really the question isn’t it? “What’s in it for me?” If living a Christian life isn’t better than the life I’m living now, why would I become a Christian? Phrases like “Take up your cross” and words like “persecution” and “suffering” are all too familiar to non-Christians. Again, those things are also true and the last thing we want to do is to paint the wrong picture for someone who then becomes disillusioned with Christianity because it has failed to live up to their standards.
I think the question becomes not only one of evangelism style, but also one of lifestyle. How do we live? Is our life attractive to others? When I read about early Christianity, I read things like “They broke bread in their homes and ate together….. praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” (Acts 2:46-47). In some early writing about the church of the first century, Pliny, who was the governor of Bithynia wrote a letter to the Roman Emperor Trajan. He was inquiring why Christians were being killed. His letter included : “I have been trying to get all the information I could regarding them. I have even hired spies to profess to be Christians and become baptized in order that they might get into the Christian services without suspicion.
“Contrary to what I had supposed, I find that the Christians meet at dead of night or at early morn, that they sing a hymn to Christ as God, that they read from their own sacred writings and partake of a very simple meal consisting of bread and wine and water (the water added to the wine to dilute it in order that there might be enough for all).
“This is all that I can find out, except that they exhort each other to be subject to the government and to pray for all men.”
In AD 25, Aristedes, a Christian philosopher wrote this about the early Christians: “They walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they love one another. They despise not the widow, and grieve not the orphan. He that hath distributeth liberally to him that hath not. If they see a stranger they bring him under their roof, and rejoice over him, as it were their own brother: for they call themselves brethren, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit and in God; but when one of their poor passes away from the world, and any of them see him, then he provides for his burial according to his ability; and if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible he may be delivered, they deliver him. And if there is a man among them that is poor and needy, and they have not among them an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.”
Unfortunately, the same perception is not held of Christians today. One has only to do a Google search for “Christians are ” and begin typing in letters to get a modern perspective on Christianity. Annoying. A Threat. Boring. Bullies. Cruel. That being the opinion of our culture today, is it any wonder that church attendance is declining in America? As I look at the perception of Christians now, I sometimes wonder how we have survived at all. One of the answers is that we find people who have run out of hope. These people have run out of answers for themselves and are therefore forced to look beyond themselves to God. But that shouldn’t be the only way we make converts. People should want to be Christians because they see something attractive about our lives. They should see us as people saw the early Christians. After all, we serve the same God. Things are the same for us as they were for them aren’t they?
What is in it for Christians? Why would someone want to be a Christian? Let’s fast forward to the end of your life. When the time comes for you to leave this earth, what difference would there be in your life if you were, or were not a Christian? What would you have missed out on in life in either case? Would you have gained anything? I see that as a Christian, I have only lost the ability to participate in those things which the Bible calls sin and to tell the truth, that list is rather short and unattractive to me. I’m not talking about the rules that we have made up to supplement what God said: No drinking, going to movies, dancing etc. I’m talking about what the Bible says is sinful behavior that will keep us out of heaven. As I cross over from this world to the next having lived my life as a Christian, what have I lost by believing in God and living my life according to his standards? I can name a few things.
According to 1 Corinthians 6 and Ephesians 5, I will have missed out on being sexually immoral, which is explained a little further in 1 Corinthians 6:12-17. Since I don’t really want to be sexually immoral anyway, I don’t count this as something that I’ve missed out on. I will have missed out on idolatry, adultery and homosexuality. No deal-breakers there so far. I will have missed the opportunity to be a thief. I won’t have been greedy. I will have missed out on being a drunkard, a slanderer and a swindler. So far, I can’t see where I’ve missed out on all that much. I will have missed the opportunity to murder, since 1 John 3 tells me that murderers will not have eternal life. Hmmm. There are a few people…..
Seriously, to be honest, I’m not sure what I’m missing out on by being a Christian. Does being a Christian mean that I go home every day and watch G-rated television followed by Bible reading and a hymn sing before I go to bed? No. It means that I do a lot of things that non-Christians do. I eat dinner. I even eat meat! I watch a good TV show or go to a movie. I spend time with my family. I go shopping. So have I gained anything in life by being a Christian? I think so. Some would say that one of the practical things that I’ve missed out on as a Christian would be Sundays. What about having my Sundays free? Haven’t I missed out on that? Nearly every Sunday in my life spent in church? To be honest, I see this as something that I’ve gained. It’s an opportunity to spend a couple of hours every week seeing friends. It’s planned. I also get to spend some much needed time with God. I enjoy singing and playing the guitar or keyboard. I enjoy helping others, so being in church is really a plus for me, not a “missed opportunity”. Some of the other things that have made my life as a Christian better than that of a non-Christian are the ways that God has changed me personally. Some of you are probably thinking that this is better for other people, not me. You would be correct, but it has also been better for me. I am a better person than I was before I became a Christian. I have a lot more patience. Unless I’m driving. That’s where God’s grace comes in though. I am less likely to bite your head off now because of the way that God has changed me from the inside out. I have more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, goodness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Not everyone likes me, but that’s OK. Not everyone liked Jesus, and he was God. I find that the people who don’t like me are much the same kind of people who didn’t like Jesus. The fact is that I’m a much nicer guy now than I was. That’s a plus for me as well as everyone who comes in contact with me frequently.
I enjoy Christianity. I enjoy my relationship with God. So why wouldn’t everyone want to be a Christian after seeing how I live? Because I don’t always enjoy every aspect of life. And it shows sometimes. Non-Christians have the perception, fueled somewhat by Christians, that the Christian life should be a utopia. It isn’t. I face opposition to the same things everyone else does. Not everything goes my way. The difference is in how I react to those things. While some aspects of my life are stressful like everyone else, I rarely get stressed like everyone else. Why? Because as a Christian, I believe that I’m not in control of every part of life just like non-Christians. But whereas a non-believer has relinquished the loss of control to nothing, I have relinquished it to God. I’m OK with God being involved in the areas of life that I find challenging.
My point is, here’s what’s in it for me: I don’t fear death. I can face nearly everything that life throws at me with peace instead of stress. I have formed lasting relationships with other believers. I’m a nicer person to be around. I can’t honestly say that the Bible forbids me to do anything that I would otherwise do anyway. I haven’t missed out on anything and I’ve gained a whole lot. Do you live a lifestyle that shows others that there is much to be gained and nothing to be lost by believing in Jesus? Would others be attracted to the lifestyle of Christianity by how you live? Do you complain about much and show gratitude for little? Or do you let others know that it’s because of Jesus that you can live the life that you love to live?