You may have read that title and been shocked.

You may have read that title and thought “Well, of course, persecution!”

Regardless of what you felt reading that title, it’s important for us as Christians when the world views us as something we are not supposed to be to recognize that and work towards changing that perception.

In a recent March 2022 study called “Jesus in America”, researchers asked Christians, those who practice other religions, and those who are not religious about their views of Christians in general, and the results should make anyone who describes themselves as Christian feel convicted in how they treat others.

The group that’s most likely to see Christians in a positive light? Other Christians. Unsurprisingly, the top 5 words Christians used to describe other Christians are “Giving”, “Compassionate”, “Loving”, “Respectful” and “Friendly”, in that order. It’s worth noting that “Judgmental” is in the top 10 words here, but came in in the 10th spot, with all 9 words above it being positive.

The next group is those that are religious, but not Christian. Their top five characteristics, in order, are “Judgmental”, “Hypocritical”, “Self-Righteous”, “Arrogant”, and then “Friendly” (with “Giving” close behind). 6 of their top 10 characteristics of Christians are negative, and 4 are positive. So while they generally see Christians negatively, they still have some positive characteristics mixed in.

Now, when it comes to those who are non-religious, the top 7 characteristics are ALL negative. The top 5 being “Hypocritical”, “Judgmental”, “Self-Righteous”, “Arrogant”, and “Unforgiving”.

Isn’t it fascinating that every single one of those characteristics are all things that the Bible teaches EXPLICITLY not to be?

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:5

The easy thing for us to look at criticism and dismiss it, using excuses like “they’re just persecuting us” or “if they just got to know me, they’d see I’m a good person”

We NEED to see things like this because if MOST Americans see Christians as acting in ways that are 100% contrary to how the Bible teaches then we need to make a change, and change in community happens on the individual level.

Someone once shared with me that as a Christian, we should be living our Christ’s love with such power that people should assume you’re a Christian without needing to hear you say it. That’s a very convicting thought.

If you didn’t tell people in your life that you’re a Christian, would they know? Think about that today. If you hesitate or make excuses for how you answer that question, think about things you need to change in your life to make that answer an unapologetic “Yes”