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Saturday Thoughts on “Why do Christians Seem So Negative Sometimes?”

By Dan | August 16, 2008

Why do Christians seem so negative sometimes? Why does it seem like Christians are against more things than they’re for?

These are thoughts you sometimes hear expressed by nonChristians. It’s not always based on daily interaction with Christians and might be their perception based on what they see in the media, but sometimes I’ve noticed it myself.

There’ s a place for righteous anger, for being mad when we see sin at work. But there’s also a place for meeting that sin in the flesh and letting your heart break for it. There should be a place in the heart of Christians to see the lost out there and want to go change things, not just talk to Christian friends about how bad it is and then send along another email forward proving that this is true.

Look at the example of Jesus in John 4. He meets the Samaritan woman and she’s as bad as it gets, an adulterer many times over. Yet what is his reaction? Yes he confronts her, but he also restores her. And after she leaves, what does Jesus tell the disciples about the Samaritan city. “The fields are already white for harvest.” When Jesus sees sinful people, he also sees opportunity.

We should take some inspiration from this as we interact with our world. Instead of just getting mad, let’s speak to people and see if we can bring some change.