Ten Perfectly Good Reasons NOT to Become a Christian
If you aren't thoroughly convinced, then God help you
Orthodox Judaism has traditionally discouraged non-Jews from converting to the faith. That hesitancy forces potential converts to count the cost and be absolutely certain they are ready to pay it.
For different reasons, detractors of Christianity also employ a bevy of arguments to dissuade any who would consider embracing it. What follows is a thought-provoking list of concerns meant to bolster their efforts.
If you are seriously considering becoming a Christian:
1. Realize that you will have to admit that the world doesn’t revolve around you. This is a game-changer and not something you will warm up to quickly. It means your whole carefully constructed worldview and way of life will get revamped by Something bigger than yourself. King “Me” will get dethroned. Ouch!
Do you really want to go through that? Are you ready for the big demotion?
2. Understand that you will find yourself talking with, meditating on, and listening to a Being you can’t see! What’s more, you will start believing that the Spirit of a deceased carpenter who lived 2,000 years ago in a backwater of the Roman Empire is still alive and active in the world today!
Really? Are you ready for such a radical paradigm shift? Isn’t that the sort of thing that could get you put in the looney bin?
3. You will become deluded into thinking that the material world is only a tiny part of a much bigger reality. In fact, you will actually deceive yourself into believing that all of life suddenly makes sense. (Sure it does, Homer).
You’ll find yourself thinking about and longing for another, more permanent realm — one that kooky types call “heaven.” These baseless thoughts and intuitions will sooner or later mean that “reasonable people” will either consider you a hopeless fool or simply pity you for being weak-minded and gullible.
What will you say to your New Age friends and atheist colleagues? Are you ready for their incredulous looks? How will you like being called a “fruitcake?”
4. There will come a day when you actually believe that the people you’ve customarily jeered and derided — the so-called “church” — are really pretty nice folks that have your best interests in mind. You’ll erroneously think them to be loving, kind, and willing to do almost anything to better your lot in life.
In your confusion, you’ll even think that when you disagree with some of them about politics or theology, it doesn’t mar the bond you have through your shared faith. You may even be nutty enough to think you love people everywhere, regardless of how useless they are to you.
Such thoughts will require admitting that your vitriol-lased habit of blaming others for what is awry in yourself is just plain wrong. Now that won’t be a lot of fun, will it?
Do you think you can actually handle the self-scrutiny? Who needs the hassle?
5. You’ll begin to lose it and believe that the things you previously ran after in life have become far less attractive in the big picture. That could mean forfeiting your most highly prized possessions, giving up on that dream home, or ditching the longed-for career or retirement that could put you on easy street.
It could even mean coming to the false realization that the happy-go-lucky, cool crowd of friends you’re used to hanging with are not so happy or cool after all. And you’d foolishly think that the bank account and possessions you’ve sacrificially built up to enjoy can never provide the happiness and contentment you always imagined.
Is it really worth that kind of upheaval and loss? Can you deal with the sneers that’ll come your way?
6. Before long you will conclude that you don’t need to be right. In fact, you’ll fall into the trap of thinking you have been mostly wrong your entire life. You will unnecessarily subject yourself to the shock of looking upon your past and seeing that what you thought was indisputably true is far from it.
That includes the privileged position you thought you earned and deserved and the intellectual arguments you so forcefully defended against your insufferable rivals.
By then you may already have deceived yourself into thinking that it’s better to be good than right. You’ll wander around muttering mantras about love, joy, peace, patience and such.
Are you really ready to step down from the elevated pedestal you laboriously assembled for yourself, now to sit humbly before One who you imagine knows your every flaw and still loves and accepts you? You know Master Ego won’t go down without one heck of a fight.
Is that really a battle you want to wage? Aren’t there easier, safer self-help programs out there?
7. Like a sheep to the slaughter, you will find yourself drawn to “that Book” you’ve always known was only a fairytale for uneducated people with thick southern accents.
You’ll start believing that not only is the Bible an irresistible reservoir of wisdom and truth, but the Author who inspired it actually speaks to you when you read it. Look out! By then you will be in real trouble!
Is that something you’re going to want to admit to your unbelieving friends and family? Can you put up with the ridicule and denigrating comments? Are you really willing to admit you were previously ignorant and biased? Do you actually want to start learning this religious stuff like a little child?
8. Eventually, you’ll fall off the deep end and feel compelled to give away your time and money to help complete strangers. Like a Texas gusher, an unexpected well of generosity will spring up inside you. You’ll go around spouting some nonsense about it being more blessed to give than receive.
You’ll find your bank account getting depleted, your schedule bereft of me-time, and your lips unwittingly saying “yes” to a host of charitable causes. You will become a “do-gooder” in the eyes of outsiders who know you are just trying to work out your self-acceptance hang-ups through helping others. It could put an end to lounging around on weekends with time to mindlessly surf the internet and entertain moi.
Is that really so appealing? Won’t you regret falling for that kind of foolishness?
9. You will find yourself actually wanting to gather together with other impressionable types to pray, read silly Bible stories, and do that weird thing they call “fellowship.”
It will become really important to you, even the highlight of your week. And that will mean that, by comparison, the old haunts and activities might appear super boring and a waste of time. Old friends will think that you’ve lost a screw, been brainwashed, or finally succumbed to the drugs and alcohol you overused to fill the void.
Is it worth jettisoning your party persona and the high life to be laughed at by those who can’t understand? Why would any sane person make such a choice?
10. Finally, you will find yourself wanting to tell others about Jesus! That, my friend, should be the last straw. Just imagine yourself doing the very thing you’ve rightfully mocked all your life.
Haven’t you long despised those “know-it-all Christians,” and now you want to become one of them? Are you ready for the vitriol and smug denouncements for being cheeky enough to “share the Gospel?”
Can you deal with those who’ll try to argue you out of your newfound faith for something more palatable with post-modern sensibilities? Are you prepared for the hatred and discrimination that will come your way because you have the gumption to tell others about what will, unfortunately, become the most important thing in your life?
Come on, dude! Be smart.
And just in case you are still waffling over this Christian thing, understand that we’ve only covered the shortlist of reasons not to give your life to Christ. That’s right, pal. You’re only looking at the tip of a massive iceberg. Do the math; count the cost!
Could anything actually be so wonderful or important that you would want to give up everything else to have it? Is there anything in all of life that could possibly be that valuable?
(Image by Johnnie Shannon from Pixabay)
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