“Questions About Life and God” Part 7
"Why don't Christians act better than they do?"

The skit we just saw sets the tone for the next message in this series where we're looking at questions many people are asking about life, and God, and Christianity. Today's question is, "Why don't Christians act better than they do?"

I think most people would agree that if someone says he or she is a Christian, you expect a higher level of behavior from this person than from someone who doesn't claim to believe in Jesus. A Christian ought to be a better person - more pure, more loving, more unselfish. But often this is not the case!

There are many kinds of experiences that can cause people to ask this question: Why don't Christians act better than they do? For instance, someone who's had a problem with drugs or alcohol comes to Christ, has a sound conversion experience and begins to live a new life in Christ, free of drugs or alcohol. Then sometime later you hear that this person is drinking again. Or, somebody is active in the church, even a leader in the church. Yet you know in this person's life outside the church, he or she is living in a way that calls into doubt their moral or spiritual integrity. Or, a congregation splits into factions over an issue. Instead of showing Christian love and understanding, people are mean-spirited and downright nasty to one another. In some ways this church fight seems more vicious than those squabbles that take place outside the church. I think all of us could point out instances of Christians behaving badly, or of some respected Christian falling into some kind of serious sin or moral failure.

When I was in high school there was very gifted Methodist pastor who was also a dynamic evangelist. Young and handsome and a spellbinding speaker, he made the rounds preaching at the local campmeetings. A group of us from our church followed him whenever he preached locally. Young people adored him. He became my idol as far as the kind of Christian I wanted to be. Then one day I heard that this man who was married and the father of several small children, had gotten a flight attendant pregnant. And I was devastated. It was my first hard lesson in realizing that every person has feet of clay.

Why don't Christians act better than they do? After all, doesn't the Bible say "if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Doesn't this verse (and other verses in the Bible) tell us that when you come to Christ you become a new person - and the old sinful behaviors are now gone? Yet, often it seems as though Christians are no different than anyone else. How come?

The Bible realistically addresses this dilemma. One of the reasons Christians don't act better than they do is because of the influence of Satan. A lot of people may ridicule the idea of Satan, or the devil. But the Bible points to the reality of Satan and his activity in the world.

We read this in Luke 22:31-32: Jesus says to Peter, "Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail." Jesus told Peter that Satan has desired to have all of the disciples, but Jesus has prayed specifically for Peter. Think of it, our Lord depended on these 12 disciples to get the message out to the world - think how that would be hindered if Satan could dominate their lives!

Satan wants to destroy people. Now he doesn't have to spend much energy on godless people - he already has them! So he works on Christians. And I think the devil works even harder on Christians who are close to Christ and really making a difference for the kingdom of God. And sometimes he is successful in making the most beautiful, effective Christians crash and burn.

A second reason why Christians sometimes act badly is because of our inherent sin-nature. True, we can't blame everything on the devil! Wasn't it comedian Flip Wilson who used to say, "The devil made me do it"? Besides the devil there is another powerful force at work that causes Christians to fall and to act in less than admirable ways. That is our own sinful human nature.

The Bible has a much more sober view of human nature than a lot of people today. Many people think that we are all basically good people, and it's only a few who are really, really bad eggs (terrorists, child molesters, people who hold up Turkey Hill stores, and most politicians!). But the Bible says that all of us are a strange mix of good and evil. There is a good side to us, because we are made in the image of God. But there’s an evil side to human nature that is perverse and wicked. The prophet Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).

You may say, "But I thought when a person becomes a Christian, when we are born again, that this old sinful nature dies within us, and there is a power in the gospel to overcome the evil side of our human nature." There is! But even once we give our lives over to Christ the old sinful nature within us is not entirely eradicated. It'd be great if it were, but it isn't!

Let's look at some Scriptures that help to clarify this matter.

Turn to Romans, chapter 7. Now would you agree that the Apostle Paul was about as great a Christian as you'll ever find? I think so! But look at what he says: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh, I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do"
(Romans 8:15, 18-19).

Have you ever felt like that? Let's read more: "So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 8:21-24). But here's the positive note: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (verse 25).

As long as we are in this life, we will struggle to some degree with our sinful nature. See, when we are born physically we take on human nature. Part of that nature is evil. But when we are born again or reborn spiritually, we get a new nature: the Holy Spirit comes into us and resides in us. And our life becomes a battleground for spiritual warfare. The sinful nature, which Paul terms "the flesh", battles the Holy Spirit and the new nature within us. This inward conflict is described in Galatians, chapter 5. "Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want" (Galatians 5:18-19).

When Christians behave badly, it is the "flesh" (the sinful nature in us) ruling. Do you want to see a picture of what Christians do when the “flesh” rules? Here’s a description of Christians behaving badly: "Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).

Then, thirdly, Christians often act badly because we live in a fallen world. The world and life itself is marked by sin, disease, decay and death. And we all are influenced and affected by what goes on in the world around us.

For example, as a Marriage and Family therapist, I realize that even Christians can be dysfunctional, perhaps affected by such things as what happened to us growing up in our family of origin. Case in point: here's Trudi. Trudi never got much affirmation from her parents growing up, and as an adult Christian, she still has a deep-seated need to crave affection and attention. She drives her friends crazy with her love-hunger, since trying to show love and affirmation to her is like pouring water into a bucket that has no bottom.

And here's Andy. Andy grew up in a home where his dad was an alcoholic. For Andy and his family, life was chaotic and at the mercy of dad's temper, and fits of drunken rage. Like many adult children of alcoholics, Andy is anal about wanting to control things (since, growing up, his life was always out of control). The problem is, Andy is a leader in the church, and people resent it when he tries to manipulate and control everything, including the church people with whom he relates.

So, all of these factors help explain why Christians sometimes don't act very well. The
devil and his seductions, the flesh - that still unredeemed part of our human nature, and the
world, and how we are affected by living in an imperfect, fallen world. It's interesting, in classic Christian teaching, these three are the enemies of the soul - the world, the flesh, and the devil!

The Bible explains why Christians sometimes don't act very well, but the Bible also urges Christians to progress towards a life of Christian love and goodness! I could quote many
Scriptures that command believers to grow more Christlike in their behavior, and to put away the old nature and put on the new nature.

For instance, in Colossians 3:9-10 it says, "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator." Christians are supposed to have stripped off the old clothes of sinful living and put on the new nature that increasingly makes us more like Jesus!

And as far as the devil, James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul says, "Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:9).

We are assured that through the power of Christ we can overcome the world and its negative influence on us. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

See, if we're Christians, we are always under construction! It's like the bumper sticker,
"Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." That's no excuse for sinning, but it is the truth.
Every one of us is a project not yet completed. God isn't finished with us yet! The important thing is, are we growing in Christ? Are we moving along towards a holy life?

What are some of the ways we can keep ourselves from falling into serious sin and becoming a “Christian casualty”? How can we make the way we live day by day more consistent with our profession of being a follower of Jesus? Here are some helps.

1. We need to recognize our weak points and our vulnerability. We have to be truthful with ourselves. What are the places in my life where I can easily be led astray? What are the temptations that I find hard to resist? Once we know our weak points, avoid putting ourselves in situations where we know we’ll be tempted. For example, if we're in bondage to credit card debt, cut up the credit cards. If we’re tempted to overspend, cut down the trips to the mall. Be careful too, that we don’t get overconfident and think we could never fall prey to a certain sin. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”

2. Stay in the word. Ephesians 6 tells us how to protect ourselves against the powers of evil. It says we are to “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Reading and studying the Bible is food for our soul; it makes us stronger in Christ.
The Bible is a light for our path. It guides our thinking so we know more clearly how God wants us to live. It’s hard to live as the Master wants if we ignore the Owner’s Manual!

3. Maintain a steady prayer life. Again, in Ephesians 6 where it tells us to put on the armor of God so we can be strong in the Lord, it says, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). One reason our behavior can lag behind what we profess is because we neglect prayer. Prayer keeps the channels open so that God can pour His power into us so we can live holy lives. Think of it, it’s kind of hard to get on our knees in prayer, and then get up and do something that will discredit the name of Christ. Staying in the word and remaining steady in prayer are ways we can nurture the Holy Spirit and the new nature in us.

4. Choose Christ in the little, daily things. Most Christians don't fall into disgrace because they suddenly decided to do something that would shame themselves and besmear the name of Christ. Usually the big falls come as a result of little compromises that we have made. When we have integrity in the little, daily decisions, a life of goodness will follow.

5. Allow yourself to be held accountable. Every believer ought to be meeting regularly with a few Christian friends who will be able to hold one another accountable morally and spiritually by asking questions like: Are you clean in your thought life? Are you hiding anything that dishonors God? Are you taking time for the daily spiritual disciplines that will help you grow?

6. If you need help, get help! As I said earlier, some of us are behaving badly because of something in our past or something in our present that’s causing us to be dysfunctional. That’s why God has given us Christian counselors – marriage and family therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists. For example, people with addictions – whether Christians or not – generally are not able to overcome these addictions without getting into a 12-step recovery program. I don’t know why this is the case, but it seems to be one of the necessary steps almost everyone has to take to be healed from an addiction.

No Christian is perfect. There will always be some inconsistency between what we profess and how we act. But God has the power to help us grow in a life of goodness and Christian love.

Harry L. Kaufhold, Jr.
Preached at Lititz United Methodist Church
February 18, 2007

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