Why Christians Should Stop Saying “Prayer Works” (And 2 Other Things)

One reason people stay away from Christianity is not because they don’t know any Christians.

It’s often because they do.

Our actions and our words as followers of Jesus have the power to attract or repel people from Christianity.

The number of people who never go to church or follow Jesus keeps growing. And their thinking keeps changing too (I’ve outlined 15 characteristics of unchurched people here).

So what can we do about it? Read More

Also See
15 Characteristics of Today's Unchurched Person

I am a “senior scholar” at Murray State University here in Murray, Kentucky. The university has a Japanese Language Studies Program and offers Japanese Language classes. As a “senior scholar” I have regular contact with the other students of the university, most of whom are in their late teens and early twenties.

I have become increasingly aware from talking with my fellow students how the actions and words of some Christians are driving them away from Christianity. Members of one local church come to the university and hand out New Testaments to students. They are not content to hand out a New Testament to those who are willing to take one but pursue students, corner them, and browbeat them into taking a New Testament. Few of the students keep the New Testaments that they are forced to accept, much less read them. Following the visits of these “evangelists” the campus is littered with discarded New Testaments. A few Christian students will gather them up and save them for those occasions when a non-Christian student whom they have befriended expresses an interest in reading the Bible.

A member of another local church regularly visits the campus and harangues passing students about their sinfulness and their need to repent. University policy permits the use of what is called “free-speech circle” by off-campus speakers who have not been invited by a university department or organization to give a talk in one of the other venues available to guest speakers. Needless to say most students take a wide detour around “free-speech circle” on the occasions of his visits to the university. A few have complained to the university about his offensive remarks about women and LGBT students. The actions and words of these local church members only reinforce the negative image of Christians that a number of students have acquired.