You know, it’s startling today to realize exactly how people look at Christianity. To much of the world Christians are just a nuisance. We are just a bunch of crazy fanatics who try to impose innumerable rules upon everyone else. We’re just a bunch of do-gooders who always find ways to condemn those that don’t believe like us. We’re just a bunch of bigots who are always against something. We’re just a bunch of stupid idiots who follow crooked hypocritical preachers out to get rich off of everyone else. We are always fighting with someone. We’re never allowed to have any fun. And we’re always trying to shove this God stuff down people’s throats. It’s amazing sometimes how people view Christians. And to be honest, it’s alarming as well.
How did we get to this place of being so low on the totem pole? How did we get to this spot of being the brunt of so many jokes? How did we become so intolerable? We could blame it on the fact that American culture has gone to pot. We could blame it on Hollywood for being so hateful towards Christianity. We could blame it on politicians who pass laws against the Ten Commandments and the Pledge of Allegiance. There are all sorts of reasons that we could probably come up with to explain why Christianity seems to be so unpopular.
But I would tend to believe that in our efforts to understand why we are so un-liked by the rest of society maybe we need to step back and take a good look at ourselves. Yes, American culture does have its faults. Yes, Hollywood has been pretty spiteful. Yes, it is sad how the laws seem to be going in favor of ridding our nation of its Christian heritage. But are those things at fault? Let me pose a question to you. What if Christians are at fault for the way people view us? What if we, really, are the ones to blame for the way people perceive us? What if we have been the ones to make Christianity unattractive?
This evening, while I realize that Paul told Timothy that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution;” and while I know that John said, “Marvel not when the world hates you,” I would think that maybe we have brought upon ourselves some of this loathing from the world. Yes, I know people will hate us because of what we stand for; I know that people tend to rebel against the idea that there is only one God and one Way to get to heaven. I know those things. But I also believe we (and by we, I mean the church in general); I believe we have been guilty of being a nuisance at times. We probably have been guilty of trying to impose countless rules upon people. Maybe we are guilty of condemning too often. Maybe we are too often against so many things and never for anything. Maybe we have made Christianity unpopular and unattractive. If that is truly the case, then what is it that will alter the world’s opinion of the church? What will it take to reverse some of the damage we have done to ourselves and the church’s image? I believe it will take Christians really living like Christians. Because I believe that there should be something attractive about true Christians. And tonight I want to share with you what I believe attractive Christians are like.
I. Attractive Christians Are Changed
I believe, first of all, that attractive Christians are changed people. In Mark 2 we find a story about a day when Jesus was at a house in Capernaum. While he was there preaching to a crowd that was all over that house, four men were doing their best to get their sick friend in contact with this miracle worker. Their friend was stricken with palsy; he was paralyzed. And there was no way for them to get to Jesus through the doors of that house, so they climbed up onto the roof and ripped a hole in it over the spot where Jesus was speaking.
No doubt, this was very disruptive. No doubt, the owner of the house was probably getting a little worried. Those who had gotten up early to get front row seats that day were probably frustrated at these guys for ruining the service. The Pharisees, who knows what they were thinking? Maybe they were disgusted by the rudeness of these guys. On the other hand, maybe they were delighted that Jesus’ opportunity to speak was being disrupted. Who knows? But these men didn’t care what anyone thought. They were getting their friend to the great Healer. So they worked until they got a hole big enough to fit their friend’s bed through, then they lowered him down right in front of Jesus. And Jesus was touched by their faith. They had gone to extreme measures so they could get this man to Jesus. They knew He could help him. They knew He had the power to heal.
And Jesus said, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” This caused quite a stir. How could this man forgive sins, the scribes thought. But Jesus knew their hearts, so he said to the man, “Arise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the one who had been paralyzed got up and walked. The one who had been unable to move carried his own bed out of that house. The one who had been hurting was healed. And Mark 2:12 says that the people were amazed, and, they praised God, and said: “We have never seen anything like this!” They glorified God, they couldn’t help but be amazed at the power of God, because there was something attractive about a changed person.
And today, there is nothing like a genuinely changed person to make Christianity attractive. When someone who was a liar quits lying; when someone who was a thief quits stealing; when someone who cursed like a sailor quits swearing; when someone who was an alcoholic or a drug addict gets clean; there is just something about someone who has been genuinely changed that causes those around them to be amazed. There is just something that’s attractive about a person who was once caught up in sin but can testify and show by their life that they are totally different now.
I think that too many times the world is turned off by Christianity because they know people who call themselves Christians, who probably harp on them to go to church, but who are no different than they are. Far too many “Christians” live just like the world does. There is no change that takes place in their life. There is no difference between what they were before they “got saved” and after. There is no difference between them and their non-Christian friends. And when that’s the case how can we blame the world for being turned off? If we’re no different than they are; if we claim that God has the power to change a life, but we don’t live that way, how can we blame them for wanting no part of it? There’s not a thing attractive about following a bunch of rules, getting up early on Sundays, or putting money in the offering plate when there is no change of heart or life that’s apparent. Neither is there anything attractive about someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus but doesn’t live like it. The attractiveness comes from people who are changed people.
2 Cor. 5:17 says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. When someone genuinely becomes a Christian they are completely changed, inside and out. And there’s something very attractive about that. Attractive Christians are changed people.
II. Attractive Christians Are Cheerful
I also believe that attractive Christians are cheerful people. Attractive Christians have something in their life that’s called joy. There is nothing worse than seeing a grumpy Christian. If you won’t say “ouch,” I will. There is nothing worse than a grumpy Christian. People all around us are looking for something that will make them happy. And they are looking in all sorts of places. And none of those places are doing it for them.
Some of them look for it in pleasure. A man by the name of Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. But he wrote: “The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone.” Some look for it in money. Jay Gould, an American millionaire, had plenty of money. But when he was dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.” Some look for it in glory. Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. There isn’t much more glory than that. But having done so, he wept in his tent and said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
People are looking for something to make them truly happy, and they’re looking in all the wrong places. Nobody has ever found joy in drugs and alcohol, they’ve only found slavery. Nobody has ever found joy in pleasure and money, they’ve only found emptiness. Nobody has ever found joy in glory and fame, they’ve only found a discontent and a longing for more. They’re looking in the wrong places. Only Christ can offer true happiness and joy.
But how can we blame them for looking elsewhere if we are claiming to be Christians, but don’t seem to be happy either? There are far too many people who call themselves Christians who are just a bunch of grumpy, mean ogres. They never smile. They’re always bickering and complaining. They’re always finding fault. They’re never nice. Now, I’m glad there’s nobody like that here in our church, but I’m sure you’ve seen them. And when you stop and look at them you can’t help but understand why nobody around them wants to be a Christian; why everyone around them seems to have very negative feelings about Christians. Because they’re grumpy. They don’t have any joy.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. His mind, wit and work earned him the unofficial title of “the greatest justice since John Marshall.” At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”
What an indictment against the church. Maybe we have been guilty of not being a joyful people. But if we want to be attractive Christians we must allow our joy to show. We must wipe that etched frown off of our face and start smiling. We must stop always seeing the negative in things and begin looking for the positive. We must stop allowing ourselves to get caught up in bickering and complaining and begin encouraging and praising more. We need to be a joyful people. Paul said in Romans 15… Now the God of hope fill you with all joy. He told the Philippian church to rejoice in the Lord. In 1 Thess. 5 he says Rejoice evermore. 1 Peter 1:8 tells us that in Christ we can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Christians are a joyful people. We have found the answer. We have something to rejoice over. We have found true happiness. Now, let’s show it. Let’s be cheerful people.
III. Attractive Christians Are Committed
Thirdly, attractive Christians are committed people. There really isn’t anything attractive about someone who says they’re a part of something but they seem very indifferent about it. On the other hand, there is something very attractive about someone who believes in something and puts themselves into that cause whole-heartedly.
In the December 1987 issue of Life magazine, Brad Darrach wrote: “Meryl Streep is gray with cold. In Ironweed, her new movie, she plays a ragged derelict who dies in a cheap hotel room, and for more than half an hour before the scene she has been hugging a huge bag of ice cubes in an agonizing effort to experience how it feels to be a corpse. Now the camera begins to turn. Jack Nicholson, her derelict lover, sobs and screams and shakes her body. But through take after take--and between takes too-Meryl just lies like an iced mackerel. Frightened, a member of the crew whispers to the director, Hector Babenco, ’What’s going on? She’s not breathing!’”
“Babenco gives a start. In Meryl’s body there is absolutely no sign of life! He hesitates, then lets the scene proceed. Yet even after the shot is made and set struck, Meryl continues to lie there, gray and still. Only after 10 minutes have passed does she slowly, slowly emerge from the coma-like state into which she has deliberately sunk. Babenco is amazed. ’Now that’, he mutters in amazement ’is acting! That is an actress!’”
Total dedication and commitment amazes people. We are impressed by and attracted to people who believe completely in what they are doing and show it and put themselves in to it unreservedly. But far too many Christians are not committed to their cause or to their Savior. Church is just a country club. The word “Christian” is just a label.
A Hindu priest once spoke to an American journalist and told him that he wanted to be a missionary to America. When the journalist assumed that what he meant was that he wanted to convert Christians to Hinduism, the priest said, “No, I want to convert them to Christianity.” He said, “The people of your country may claim they believe in Christianity, but from what I read at this distance, Christianity is more a custom than anything else. I would ask that either you accept the teachings of Jesus in your everyday life and in your affairs as a nation, or stop invoking His name as sanction for everything you do.”
Too many people claim Christianity, but it doesn’t mean anything to them. They’ll follow when it’s easy. They’ll claim to know Jesus when it’s popular. They like to believe that they’re going to heaven. But there is no commitment in their claim. The moment the road becomes difficult they back away. The moment there is opposition they retreat. The moment it doesn’t make them look good they decide it isn’t for them. And there is nothing attractive about that.
But there is something impressive and attractive about someone who is truly committed and sold out for Christ. There is something that sticks out about someone who is willing to give everything for what they believe. John Hus was a man who believed the Scriptures to be the infallible and supreme authority in all matters. He was burned at the stake for that belief in Constance, Germany, on his forty-second birthday. As he refused a final chance to renounce his faith, Hus’s last words were, “What I taught with my lips, I seal with my blood.”
I wonder if someone in that crowd that day looked on that event and thought, “Now, that is commitment. That is a Christian.” I don’t know about you, but I want to be so devoted to my Lord, no matter what the consequences, that someone can look at me and say, “That is a Christian.” Attractive Christians are committed.
IV. Attractive Christians Are Consistent
Fourthly, attractive Christians are consistent people. A man sat through a church service and on the way home he fussed about the sermon, he fussed about the traffic, he fussed about the heat and he fussed about the lateness of his meal being served. The he bowed his head and prayed. His son was watching him all the way through this post-church experience. Just as they were beginning to pass the food he said, “Daddy, did God hear you when you left church and started fussin’ about the sermon and about the traffic and about the heat?” The father sort of blushed and said, “Well, yes, son, He heard me.” “Well, Daddy, did God hear you when you just prayed for this food right now?” And he said, “Well, yes, son, He heard me.” “So, Daddy, which one did God believe?”
There are a lot of people who call themselves Christians but live every inconsistently with that claim. There are a lot of people who call themselves Christians but do not live up to that name. Do you know what the word, “Christian” means? Christian means “Christ follower.” In other words, if you call yourself a Christian you are someone who is being like Jesus, not just in what you say, but in what you do, how you live. 1 John 2:6 says that anyone who says that they are a Christians ought to walk as Jesus walked. If you call yourself a Christian you need to be backing that up with the way you are living. Because people bank more what you do than they do upon what you say.
Charles Spurgeon said, “A man’s life is always more forcible than his speech. When men take stock of him they reckon his deeds as dollars and his words as pennies. If his life and doctrine disagree the mass of onlookers accept his practice and reject his preaching.”
There are so many people out there who have been turned off to Christianity by those who have claimed with their lips to be followers of Jesus, but their lives have spoken as well, and their lips and their lives are saying two different things. I don’t know how many people who have answered my questions of why they don’t attend church or why they aren’t Christians by saying that they’ve come across too many hypocrites in the church. There were too many people who said they loved Jesus but didn’t act like it. Granted, those individuals are responsible for their own souls regardless of who they’ve come across. And granted, sometimes that is just an easy excuse to use in reasoning themselves out of doing something they don’t want to do. But at the same time I think their complaint against the church is legitimate in many cases. Because I’ve seen a lot of people myself who lived very hypocritically and inconsistently. I’ve seen a lot of people that said one thing and did another. And there is nothing attractive about those kinds of people. There is nothing about their lives that makes me want to be a Christian.
But there is a great attraction in people who allow their actions show that they are a true follower of Jesus. My mom is someone like that. She doesn’t say a lot in public. She isn’t someone you’d see getting up and testifying in church. Yes, she has claimed to be a Christian. But she’s allowed her actions to do the talking. I’ve never seen her live any differently at home than she did at church. I’ve never seen her do anything that would cause me to question whether she really loved Jesus or not. She’s consistent. She’s real.
Let me ask you… is your life consistent with your testimony? Are your actions consistent with your claims? I tell you what, I want people to be able to look at my life and see someone real. I don’t ever want to do anything that would make people question my testimony. I don’t ever want my actions to contradict my words and claims. I want to be consistent. Because consistency is attractive.
V. Attractive Christians Are Compassionate
Lastly, this evening, attractive Christians are compassionate people. A little boy was attending a church in Chicago. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little guy still attended the same church, although it meant a long, tiresome walk each way. A friend asked him why he went so far, and told him that there were plenty of others just as good nearer to his home. “They may be as good for others, but not for me,” was his reply. “Why not?” his friend asked. “Because they love a fellow over there,” he replied.
You know, we as a church can do a lot of things to try to win people to Christ. We can initiate great outreach programs. We can hold street meetings. We can go door to door every week. We can start a food pantry. We can build nicer, cleaner, and larger facilities. We can put together the greatest church choir in East Tennessee. We can preach the most powerful messages. We can do all sorts of things. We can do all the right things. But if we don’t love people, what are those things going to matter?
There was a statement that our ministerial professors told us preacher boys many times in college. It goes like this… “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” And it’s true. But I think it can also be said about many other things as well. People don’t care how pretty our church is if they don’t know that we genuinely care about them. They don’t care whether or not we have great ministries and programs if we don’t show them true love. For Paul said in that great love chapter, 1 Cor. 13, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. All the programs, ministries, and talents in the world cannot do what genuine compassion for people can do. There is nothing in this world that will attract sinners to Jesus more than us simply loving them to Him.
I think many times we, as the church in general, have been guilty of working hard to do all the right things. We do the best we can at having good outreach ministries. We strive for excellence in ministry, and that’s wonderful. I believe we should do that. But perhaps we have done all those things without any real compassion. Maybe we’ve done them more because we want to be able to say that we’ve got a good church. Maybe we’ve done them to appease our guilty consciences that let us know we should be doing something for God. Maybe we really want to grow. I don’t know what the reasons may be. But could it be possible that we really haven’t been doing those things out of a heart of love? Could it be possible that we’ve forgotten the most important part?
If we have maybe that’s the reason we’re not as effective as we should be in winning others to Jesus. Maybe that’s the reason people aren’t busting down our doors to hear the Gospel we have to preach. Because we’ve forgotten to love. But when we begin doing what God has called us to do out of love, out of a heart of compassion, I believe we’ll see more people being attracted to Jesus. D.L. Moody said, “If only we could make the world believe that we loved them, there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.” Do you want to be an attractive Christian? Then be a person of compassion.
This evening, there are many reasons why people reject Christianity. They may be too busy, they may feel like they don’t want to be tied down by the Christian lifestyle, or they may be turned off by so called Christians. May we, our church and the church as a whole, never be found guilty of causing someone to have a negative view of Christianity. But may we always be attractive Christians by allowing people to see the change Christ has made in our lives, living lives full of God’s joy, staying sold out believers, always backing up what we say with our lives, and letting people know that we love them. I want to be someone that attracts people to Jesus, don’t you? Then let’s be people who are changed, cheerful, committed, consistent, and compassionate.
