It seems like a bit of irony, doesn’t it, that the unrighteous (unbelievers) would be more righteous than the righteous (those living by faith in Christ)? What do we do with this sort of contradiction, and what does it mean? Why do some unbelievers appear to act more righteously than God’s children?
We have many examples of individuals being hurt by the church and walking away from not just the church but Christianity as a whole, meanwhile those in our lives that don’t profess to be Christians act in a more loving manner and don’t make us feel like we’re being judged in the wrongful sense. Let me state that this blog post is not a solution for church hurt advice (church hurt will involve seeking counseling of trusted individuals from those with a biblical worldview and mental health services if needed), but rather I am going to be discussing why this scenario plays out the way it does, and I’m going to discuss where do we go from that conclusion. With that being said, let’s get started!
What constitutes as righteousness?
Before we ask ourselves why this scenario happens, we must first discuss what makes someone righteous. Remember that the world doesn’t live by the authority of the Bible, so what they go by is what they believe is right: to do good to others of their choosing and to overall be a good person. So, what does the Scriptures state?
Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary reports that righteousness is “conceived as judged by the standard of God’s holy law” (pg. 723-724). Mankind, because of the fall, is totally incapable of coming to Christ on our own, which means we need Jesus. Because of what Jesus did for us (Him being the atoning sacrifice), when we come to Him in faith for Him to save us, we are made righteous through Him because of what He did, for He didn’t abolish the Law but fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). Because of Jesus being the atoning sacrifice for those who come to Him, we are made righteous, which is imputed to us; instead of God seeing sinful man, He sees the blood of Jesus covering them. When a man or woman places faith in Jesus to save them, they are deemed righteous in God’s sight, for Christ’s sacrifice covers whosoever is willing to come to Him.
With that being said, we can say that the world’s view of righteousness aren’t really righteousness (being justified by faith in Christ) at all but rather being a good person and doing good deeds and being nice, kind, and accepting of others. Those who aren’t Christians or even religious believe that they don’t need “religion” to make them a morally good person; they treat people with kindness, they’re welcoming people for who they are, they’re tolerant, and they do good to others. With this being said, that leads us to the next question.
Why is kindness and tolerance not considered righteousness in the Bible?
It’s a question that many people may ask, whether they’re Christian or not, as to why kindness and tolerance isn’t considered righteousness; those who don’t hold to a biblical worldview view kindness and tolerating others, along with being nice, as being righteous, which they believe makes them good people. Let’s see what the Bible mentions about it. In the book of Romans, Paul talks about what it means to be righteous. According to Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”, our righteousness comes from trusting in Jesus and His finished work on the cross. Since the only way to be deemed righteous is by having faith in Christ, what does that mean about being kind and tolerant?
Kindness and tolerance may not seem like bad virtues, for it basically teaches to do good to your fellow man and accept that person for who they are, so what seems to be the issue with this? The issue is that mankind has a sin nature that needs to be dealt with, which is only found in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can make a man or a woman righteous, and the Scriptures don’t say that kindness and tolerance make someone righteous, since being made righteous is to be born again; it teaches that those not born again have sinful actions and lives that need to be changed.
Kindness and tolerance (in a worldly sense) teach that we must accept people as they are, but God tells us that we must have a change in our daily living and way of doing things, and the good news is that He is more than willing to forgive those who come to Him. God welcomes us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us the way we are in our sinful state; He has bigger plans for us than that. With this being said, the next question is probably one of the more important ones in this blog, as follows:
Why are some Christians not loving their neighbor like they should?
The one thing Christians will be known by is their love for God, their fellow believer, and for those who aren’t believers. It is the whole being of what a Christian is, loving those around them, but something we should know and/or remember is that no one is perfect, which means Christians will fail you at some point. There are definitely situations that happen that may cause someone to quit being apart of the Church or even leave the faith, so it’s important to say that God sees those situations, and He understands; I encourage you to reach out to Him in those times that may come, for He will help you in those moments if you let Him. Some reasons that some Christians might not love others the way they should are as follows:
The massive spread of wicked behavior in the last days.
Christians are human beings as well, fallible and in need of Jesus as well, and like all of us right now Christians are worn down by the spread of evil going on in this world. We’re living in tiring times as we approach the Lord’s return, and one verse that strikes out to me is what Jesus makes mention of in Matthew 24, in His sermon on the Olivet Discourse. In Matthew 24:12, Jesus warns His closest disciples that in the end times the love of many will cease due to increasing wickedness, which means that they’re struggling to love people of any sort. With so much wickedness happening these days, it can be hard for a believer to maintain a love for others when they too are getting taken advantage of and betrayed by others. Jesus warned this would happen, but the commandment is still the same, that believers love God and their neighbor as themselves.
The hardships of a busy world.
Another reason if a believer lacks love is because of hard times that they’re going through and dealing with a fast-paced world with many distractions. It’s blatantly obvious that we go through hard times nowadays in the 21st century; expenses skyrocketing in price, hostility rampant among people, and health related issues (whether physical or mental) can definitely way Christians down, for they too go through these things.
Hardships can bring anyone to a level where they don’t want to love others, because they’ll be focused on their hurt and their suffering instead of remembering to love others through their own suffering. We can’t hold Christians to a high standard of maintaining perfect love towards others as they too are human and fallible, but yes they will be known by their love for others.
Everyone goes through hardships, everyone; when a person goes through hard times, they may want to keep to themselves and only seek the company of trusted individuals and loved ones. Whether it be stress, anxiety, or grief, it can be difficult to love one another during those moments. It can be hard to keep up with the fast-paced world around them, and if a believer (who has an obligation to love others) is going through things, it can come across as twice the pressure, to keep up with living life as a Christian while dealing with whatever hardship they’re going through. This is why we as Christians must pray for God to give us a patient merciful heart, because when an unbeliever falls it’s expected, but when a believer falls everyone around them is watching.
They may not actually be born-again.
A sign of why a Christian may not love others is that they’re Christian in name only and haven’t been born again. John in the book of 1 John talks about how Christians are to love the brethren and others, even saying that if we don’t love others that we don’t even know God, so why do some not love others? It could be because they aren’t born again. When a person becomes born-again, the Holy Spirit indwells in them, giving them a new nature, a nature that desires to please God. When a person becomes born-again, they will want to please God, and faith is how we please Him. Living a faithful life requires obedience, and the Scriptures talk about that. Jesus says that if we love Him, we are to keep His commandments, the biggest two being loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.
Loving others is crucial to the Christian’s witness, and when that isn’t expressed at first can be disheartening. It can be a couple or a few instances of them not loving others, but if it’s a consistent pattern of them not loving others and it goes on for several months or years, it can mean either that they’re immature in their walk with Christ or they are not born-again. No one on this earth is perfect, and even though Christians are held to a higher standard than the world, we still must understand that they too have moments of messing up and failing. We will fail each other, and with God’s help He will help us to forgive and move forward.
How do I proceed with things being unfair?
I can’t be one to tell you how things should be done regarding the way it is, but one thing I know that helps is to lose the expectations that things are going to be fair, that all Christians are going to act the way they should and that they will be a safe space in all circumstances. The thing of it is that we don’t want to live in the world that we want it to be, but rather see the world as it is. If we live in a world that exists only in our imagination, we fail to handle hardships when they come.
No one likes it when things are unfair, why those that don’t profess Christianity are more “righteous” than those that are Christian, but that doesn’t mean you have to let it weigh you down. Don’t let poor behavior from believers stop you from understanding the love that God has for you through Jesus Christ, and don’t let that stop you from believing what the Bible says is true. Don’t let the “love” from unbelievers deceive you into thinking that they are more righteous than Christians because of their bad behavior. Remember what the Scriptures teach about how one is made righteous and remember that the enemy sees if you’re feeling like the world is more loving than believers, and he’s going to use that against you – don’t fall for it. Whether a person is a believer or an unbeliever, treat them with love and compassion and show no partiality with anyone, which leads to my final point:
Be the change!
When it seems that the world takes you in and the church doesn’t, I encourage you to be the change. I can’t speak for any hurt you’ve experienced from believers, but I encourage you to keep seeking community with them. The world is not going to hold you accountable because they don’t believe in biblical accountability. The world isn’t going to give you sound advice because they have different views on what sound advice is. They won’t tell you the truth to encourage you because they don’t believe in the Truth.
I encourage you to grow deeper in your walk with Christ, for He will help you to have a love for His people. Perhaps there are some ways you can practice growth in your life; maybe if you like to be greeted by other believers, be the one who starts greeting others (if you have anxiety don’t overdo it, just pray for God to show you one person to start greeting, and practice until you feel confident to move onto the next person). If you like to have people check on you, be the one to check on others (if you serve in Outreach at your church, be the one to check on those affected by surgeries or medical conditions). If you like to have people pray for you, be the one who prays for others; you can start with one person, and then expand to bigger circles – it’ll just take some time.
These examples above are ways to grow as a believer when you feel let down, for they take the focus off of self and give you a heart to serve others, and in doing that you will glorify God, and if you are born-again that will be most important to you. If you aren’t able to be in a church, you can seek community in other ways but definitely try to make community with believers when you can. I can’t speak for any hurt you’ve gone though, but I encourage you to remember that God’s love for you remains unchanging. You can be sure that people will fail you but know that a godly community will be of much more benefit than adhering to wrongful counsel than those who oppose Christ (doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with them but just practice discernment).
The takeaway of this post is for you to know that whether someone who is a practicing Christian or an unbeliever is that they will fail you. Christians are no doubt held to a higher standard, even though it may not need to be that way, it still is; the world is watching Christians, and if you love the Lord, you’ll want to do whatever you can to please Him, but don’t take it hard on yourself when you fail because it will happen. We’re all imperfect people who will fail one another, and the heart of the matter is to forgive and choose to move forward. You have to want to move forward to see healing take place, and if you choose to move forward, you can be sure that you will grow in godly character and in a deeper maturity than what you were before.
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