“Great empires are not maintained by timidity.”

Tacitus 

Timid Christianity

                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

by Mark Karapetyan

 

What in the world has happened to Christianity?

When did Christians become spineless doormats? 

The more I look around, the more I see feckless, boneless, timid men and women who profess to be Christians, when in reality, they are nothing but sissies who are terrified to stand up to anyone who challenges their Christian faith.

The moment an unbeliever makes noise and puts heat on Christianity and its teachings, the average Christian panics, cowers down, goes into hiding, and even at times agrees with the non-Christian that the teachings in the Bible are, in fact, immoral, in order to avoid confrontation. That’s how pathetically weak and gutless most Christians have become!

Like a deadly disease, timidity has crept into the Christian world and rotted the hearts and souls of its members. Hardly any average Christian or leader stands up to defend the fundamentals of the Christian faith anymore, for fear of being buried under an avalanche of criticism from the opposing side. Hardly any Bible-believing Christian takes a bold stand and pushes back against the secular, Marxist, liberal, and ungodly views that are wicked in their roots, and cause tremendous damage to the hollow, apathetic Christian minds. I firmly believe that secularism is on the rise, not because Christianity lacks evidence, but because Christians lack the courage and the knowledge to defend their faith. In al honesty, the more I speak to Christians from all over world, the more I am convinced that timidity has become part of their DNA.

A few days ago, a self-professed Christian loudly challenged me: “Christianity is not about telling others that they will perish in Hell; it’s about peace and love. I myself will never go to a non-Christian and tell him/her that they are wrong. Only God can do that.”

“Because you are timid and you are terrified of the backlash,” I replied.

“EXCUSE ME! How dare you!” He shouted.

“Because you are timid and you are terrified of the backlash,” I repeated.

“I am not terrified of anything,” he asserted. “The truth is that Jesus told us to love everyone,” he screamed.

“Telling someone the truth is actually loving them,” I countered.

“Yes, but that offends people,” he explained.

“The truth often offends people,” I agreed.

“Our job is not to offend others,” he challenged.

“Our job is to tell the truth, even if it offends,” I shot back.

“You can’t judge people, man!” he exclaimed. 

“Then don’t judge me for judging people,” I retorted. 

“We are commanded not to judge,” he emphasized.

“You are wrong! We are commanded to judge righteous judgments.”

Amazingly, this person circled back to his first position and parroted: “All we need is love.”

I realized my point wasn’t coming across to him, so I decided to switch tactics: “Tell me, would you tell your daughter the truth if she were doing something wrong, or if she were wrong about something, even if the truth would offend her?”

He thought for a moment: “Well, yes, obviously, as her father, I must.”

“And why would you do that?” I inquired.

He gave me a weird look and hesitantly mumbled: “Because I love her!”

It finally registered!

This man finally understood that truth and love go hand in hand. Part of loving people is actually telling them the truth. You can’t claim to love people when you hide the truth from them. Truth is a crucial, precious, and scarce reality that we demand, even though we don’t realize it. We would want our doctor to tell us the truth about our illness. When in a legal bind, we require the help of an experienced attorney whom we expect would tell us the truth about our case. We assume that our children are being taught in schools the truth about the subjects they are studying and not being brain-washed with an agenda. 

We do these things because most of us know that truth is the ultimate standard by which everything in life is measured. Willingly or not, knowingly or not, we look up to truth because it is a fundamental reality that we cannot live without. In fact, if you think about it, there could be truth without love, such as the statement 1+1= 2 ; a simple mathematical fact that does not require emotion or feeling to make it meaningful; however, there would be no love without truth, because knowing the truth and not telling people about it is actually wicked and very deceiving…ask Satan!

The question, however, remains: Where does this timid form of Christianity come from?

In my opinion, the main sources are ignorance and apathy. 

Ignorance

Ignorance brings forth timidity, while knowledge produces confidence. The more knowledge you have about a specific subject, the more confident you will be at expressing it. It is just that simple.

When someone is ignorant of something, he/she will naturally withdraw and decide not to engage others. When he/she has enough knowledge to defend his/her position, however, that person will have the audacity to challenge anyone.

In my speaking engagements, I ask Christians for the reasons why they do not engage non-believers. Almost all of them from different ages and backgrounds give me a resounding, similar answer: “We don’t know what to say!”

But why don’t they know what to say? Because they are ignorant in many ways. Christian ignorance is a reality we cannot turn a blind eye to. It is painful and it is important to point out.

“But why are Christians ignorant?” you might ask.

I am convinced that Christians are ignorant for three main reasons:

1. Christians don’t read their Bibles.

I would bet you that seven out of ten Christians do not read their Bibles regularly, and those who do don’t master their biblical knowledge very well. It is highly unlikely that those who do read their Bibles on a daily basis, for example, can recite something as fundamental as the Ten Commandments from memory!

I remember once when I was discussing apologetics with a group of pastors (ten of them), they all unanimously agreed that apologetics was not that much of an importance, but only an option, to every church. When I challenged them for the ridiculous answer they gave me, only one out of ten of those pastors were able to vaguely remember the Ten Commandments. Most of them got stuck at the fourth commandment.

As much as these pastors stunned me with their lack of knowledge in their own field of specialty, I was honestly expecting such ignorance from Christians, since it is what I am used to seeing.

Test this for yourself; ask any Christian you know, family, friends, or casual acquaintances, and see how many of them can remember something as simple as the Ten Commandments. You will be shocked, I assure you!  

It is comical that the Christians who seldom read their Bibles and know nothing about its actual teachings are the same ignorant Christians who claim that they have read the Bible cover to cover, several times, but are then unable even to name something as elementary as the names of the twelve disciples of Jesus…(can you?) Imagine how much of an untrustworthy source this makes them look like in front of non-believers!

When Christians do not read their Bibles regularly and do not know its teachings, they will become timid, and engaging others will be the last thing on their minds, I assure you. 

2. Christians are not trained in apologetics.

I don’t need to harp on this point too much, for most of you already know how important apologetics is. My entire ministry was based on the need for apologetics in today’s pagan world.

The average Christian, however, is clueless. The average church is apathetic. Mark my words, God will demand answers from all those Christians and specifically the conceited, haughty pastors who reject and ignore apologetics.

When an ignorant Christian attends an apathetic church, the angels in Heaven mourn and the demons in Hell rejoice. When an ignorant Christian attends an apathetic church, the Christian leaves that church years later apathetic about his ignorance, and the church remains ignorant about its apathy.

Seriously, what do you think the outcome will be when tens of millions of ignorant Christians attend apathetic churches that don’t teach apologetics? Doesn’t this describe the majority of churches in the west today?

The biggest mistake churches make is to brainwash and indoctrinate Christians to believe in their faith based on feelings and emotions, and ignore facts, evidence, and apologetics. How are Christians supposed to be bold and “give answers” (1 Peter 3:15) when they don’t even know what evidence their faith is based on, or what the Bible teaches?

I have said this before and I say it again, ignorance is one of the downfalls of Christians all over the world. I say this with a sad heart because during my speaking engagements, I hear not from non-believers, but from so-called “Christians,” some of the most demented, and wacky claims that can only stem out of deception and ignorance. I hear claims such as: Jesus is the brother of Lucifer; God will allow anyone into Heaven as long as he/she is a good person; healing can be obtained on demand instantly by a faithful Christian; Mary was sinless and ascended to Heaven directly. Had the Christian been trained in apologetics, he/she would have been able to deem such claims as insane, non-biblical, and even heretical.  

Furthermore, when Christians are asked to explain their positions on modern-day issues such as abortion, evolution, the Big Bang theory, or the age of the universe, etc., most of them do two things:

1. To save face, topped with pride, they either babble false claims that are not factual, which makes them look more ignorant and foolish than before;
2. Or, because they are unable to reason and provide solid evidence to defend their position, they remind the skeptic that faith alone is all they need to understand the difficult questions in life.

HOW PATHETIC!   

Honestly, how many Christians have you really seen revert to these pitiful tactics and then have success conversing with skeptics? 

3. Christians hear the wrong message in the church.

It’s an absolute travesty that churches in America and the west treat their members as a herd of goats that are incapable of doing basic critical thinking on their own.

From childhood, the average Christian is programmed to attend church just because the parents, (especially the mother) force him/her to go. As the Christian grows older, it becomes obvious that attending church is nothing more than a social meeting that brings family and friends together once a week. Then, as the Christian grows much older, the fun part starts: he/she realizes that church is not only a place to socialize, but also a semi-quiet, cozy place to catch up on some needed sleep from a long week of hard work. So every Sunday, the Christian (especially men), fastens him/herself in the usual seat, takes a deep breath, and then falls into a deep coma while the pastor echoes his repetitive, boring, lethargic sermons that put the dead back into sleep. Eventually, when the Christian one day wakes up from his/her eternal nap and raises a multitude of difficult questions regarding the Christian faith and its validity, he/she is faced with a huge wall of unanswered, unsettled questions and a huge banner on it that reads: “Don’t ask questions. Go back to sleep, your faith is enough.” 

Twenty years of this kind of church attendance will give you modern-day Christianity. Let that sink in!

On top of all this, churches today preach watered-down, wishy-washy, diluted, weak messages that do not stir anyone’s conscience or convict anyone’s soul. When was the last time you heard your pastor preach on Hell and eternal damnation? When was the last time your pastor got on the pulpit, cried his heart out, and warned against ungodliness? When was the last time your pastor openly condemned abortion, gay marriage, or homosexual activity? When was the last time you saw on TV or heard on the radio any world-renowned Christian pastor or leader strongly denounce all other false religions and proclaim Christian exclusivity?

If you are scratching your head, DON’T, because you already know the answer. Hell, sin, repentance, and God’s wrath are some of the words Christians and pastors dare not utter these days because they are deemed “offensive” by worldly standards.

HOW SHAMEFUL!

What makes all this even worse is that the majority of Christian pastors are nothing but sleazy, money-making salesmen. If they cared about their biblical messages and apologetics as much as they cared about their tithes, their book sales, and their stage appearances, Christianity would not be the fastest declining religion in the world today.

Tragically, not just pastors, but even many modern-day Christian apologists have sold their souls to the highest bidder and turned their ministries into profiting financial institutions. A few of them, for example, will not attend any apologetics event to speak or teach unless the attendance is a minimum of two hundred people. Other apologists get invited to speak at venues that are opposed to Christianity (a perfect environment to present the gospel message), but then, for fear of offending those who hold different views toward Christianity, they suppress the truth and twist the facts to make everyone in the audience comfortable. In this day and age, you see, profits from book sales reign supreme. When pastors, who are the leaders of the flock, are timid and unable to stand up to those who attack the Christian faith, how brave do you think the church sheep will be?

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3) 

When inept pastors deliver muffled and stifled wrong messages on Sundays, how informed do you think the church will be? I say this because one of the most misquoted and misunderstood teachings of Jesus is that of “turning the other cheek.” People have come to believe that this statement means that the person is weak, malleable, and therefore quite capable of being walked on. Sadly, it seems that many Christians believe this lie.

When our objectors say things against us, or ridicule our Christian morals and values, we say nothing, because we have unconsciously bought into the poisonous and cancerous world-view of “tolerance.” We cowardly remain eternally silent. 

When Jesus talked about “turning the other cheek,” He didn’t mean that we should become pushovers and allow others to do whatever they wish to us while we just sit there like fools, and do nothing. Obviously, Jesus bickered with His accusers, and many times, even called them out on their sinful lifestyles, wickedness, and hypocrisy.

Jesus boldly and courageously told them the truth…

You should too.    

Apathy

I once asked a Christian: “What do you think is a bigger problem for Christianity: ignorance or apathy?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” he replied.

That, my dear reader, describes 90% of Christians around the world. When it comes to the Bible and the matters of God, not only are most Christians ignorant, but they are also apathetic. The tragedy is that they are ignorant of their apathy, and apathetic of their ignorance. Most Christians today lack passion for God and lack hunger for His Word. Reading the Bible or earnestly praying is no longer a priority in the Christian’s life. Worldly things occupy every minute of his/her day. Making money, planning the next vacation, buying a new house, driving a fancier car, and too much caffeine are what keep the Christian awake at night, NOT the conviction of sin. 

From the moment the Christian parent wakes up until bed time, like head-less chickens, he/she runs around to meet the demands of a very busy daily schedule. The only free time left to do anything else other than work is usually on the weekends. Even then, God is not remembered, thanked, or worshiped. In fact, God is lucky if He gets a word of praise in between!

Have you noticed how disciplined, passionate, and busy Christian parents are taxiing their children around to their social and sports events from the wee hours of the morning?

When was the last time a Christian parent woke his/her children at 6:00 AM to read the Bible or pray? But they do it for soccer games, basketball practices, and band rehearsals, do they not?

I once asked a devout Christian mother: “How often do you take your son to soccer?”

“Six days a week to soccer practice, and Sundays to his game,” she proudly replied.

“And how many days a week do you teach him the Bible?” I inquired.

Of course, like most ignorant Christians do, she accused me of being judgmental.

You see, when some Christians are under pressure, and they don’t know how to properly and logically respond, they revert to name calling and insults…just like the majority of brain-washed leftists and liberals. 

On a side note, I would remind you that parents are just as guilty as the pastors when it comes to promoting Christian ignorance and apathy in the world. God will judge them for that and demand answers one day. Just you wait. 

It is an offense against God when Christians can get up early for a sale at Walmart or to sit on freezing seats for a brainless sporting event, but they can’t get up for church on Sunday. Have you seen those same Christians cheer for their sports teams in bars or on TV? When was the last time they had a nervous breakdown and screamed in despair and agony because they missed a church service or couldn’t find their Bibles? They do it, however, when their favorites teams lose games, do they not?

If you are one of those Christians, do not accuse me of being judgmental when you well know that what I am saying is true. If you can not stomach the truth, then you are not not eating God’s truth in its entirety. Your problem, dear friend, is not with me, but with God. Remember, apathy towards Christ can be more dangerous than enmity towards Him. As you know, Jesus told us plainly, “because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16)

If these words don’t sound the alarm bells and terrify you to death, then you need to re-evaluate your walk with Christ. Watch out! Jesus abhors apathy and laziness. Don’t you ever become a “whatever” Christian. God commands us to be zealous.

 

Conclusion

As I have demonstrated, ignorance and apathy are the roots of timidity. This, however, can be overcome.

If Christians start reading their Bibles, if they learn apologetics, and if they go to churches where the true message of God is taught through the Holy Spirit, then Christian ignorance, like mist in the air, will soon disappear.

Apathy can also be dealt with by making time to pray and meditate daily on God’s Word. When the Christian makes more time for worldly things than getting closer to God, it is then that he/she becomes apathetic and gets attached to “things.”

What if, for example, Christians began to treat their Bibles the same way they treat their smart phones? Imagine if Christians carried their Bibles everywhere, checked it for messages throughout the day, or spent all day glancing over its pages and posts?

Imagine if churches started teaching real apologetics three or four times a week, all year long, instead of being an establishment that provides some biblical truth and lots of tasty food, good music, and entertainment?

Imagine if Christian parents said NO to every ridiculous demand from their spoiled, self-centered children and instead, said yes to them reading and learning the Word of God? If all Christians don’t take a stand and make changes in their Christian walk with God, then timidity will engulf them into ashes.

It already has…look around! 

Finally, remember to stand up for God’s truth and wear it as a badge of honor no matter what. Charles Spurgeon once said: “If you really long to save men’s souls, you must tell them a great deal of disagreeable truth.”

If you are worried that God’s truth might offend others, you need to remember that the gospel is offensive because truth, by nature, excludes. Thus, it offends. If others are offended, so be it. Just make sure that it is the offense of the Gospel that causes others to stumble, and not your offensive manner of evangelism.

Always strive to be biblically accurate rather than politically correct, even if you know others will disagree with you. Learn from the courage of John the Baptist or the Apostle Peter. Better yet, read the entire Bible, and find a single prophet who suppressed the truth to make people feel good, like modern-day churches do. You will not find any, I assure you!

The early followers of Jesus were afraid and timid as well. But what happened to them after they finally understood and knew the truth about Jesus? They became bold, courageous evangelists who conquered the world and died spreading that message of truth.

I’m not asking you to die for God’s truth. I am asking you to simply state it before those whom you know hold opposing views, even if it is going to offend them. Can you?

The Bible tells us that in the garden of Gethsemane,“a whole multitude of Jewish leaders and others came forth to arrest Jesus.” The Apostle John adds that Jesus “went forward and faced them.”

My question to you is this:

Are you going to go forward and face your challengers and accusers to tell them about God’s truth, or are you going to fluster and be a timid Christian?

 

 

 

“A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.” 

 J.R.R. Tolkien