What If all Christians aren’t Deluded?

Marx stated that religion is the opiate of the masses. The implication here being that it is OK for the non thinking working man but not for anyone with a working brain. Many people still see Christianity as a crutch for the weak and gullible. So how true is this view?

I heard some once say that the reason that he decided to look into Christianity in the first instance was that he decided that all these millions of Christians around the world couldn’t all be totally mad! What he found changed his life forever. It is easy to think that Christianity is OK for those that need it. For those that need an opiate or a crutch. Let’s also be honest that, discounting it’s truth or lack of it, Christianity does good for many many people. God in the lives of millions of people is seen by those people as a good and beneficial thing. However, surely all these millions don’t all need Christianity as a crutch? Would they all fall apart without it? Is it just for the week and the vulnerable? Are the followers of Christianity all mad or could it be that they have discovered a truth in what they believe?

It is easy to look at the history of Christianity and believe that it’s followers are deluded. If you look at the crusades it is hard to believe that theses followers of a, so called, religion of love could be anything but deluded. When we look at the wars that have been waged in the name of Christianity over the years, again, it is easy to conclude that these are mad people who have just gotten it all wrong. And so it may be. I believe there is little of no justification for these acts. However, I do believe that there is an explanation. People’s beliefs, when held strongly cause passion to rise and reason to fall. It is why people blow themselves and others up in the name of their beliefs. It is why wars have been fought for years in the name of religion. Not only do they have a passion they have a justification and a, so called, calling. They have people behind them and a perceived enemy and threat to their belief in front of them. As far as Christianity is concerned I believe it is not a religion but a relationship. A relationship formed in love. If you take the love aspect away from Christianity you get religion. Here we find the problem with the crusades. They had the passion without the love to restrain and guide it. The same is true of wars in which Christians have been involved. They have the passion to fight the good fight but not the love to show them who the real enemy is. The Bible clearly teaches us that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities of this world. So it is easy to look at history and conclude that Christians have got it very wrong, that they are in some ways deluded or mad. However, can what they believe in be discounted because of their actions? Is God less real because of what people believe about him. The answer has to be no! God does not exist because I believe in him nor does he not exist because others disbelieve his existence. If I chose to believe the sun is made of chocolate and therefore wear no sun tan lotion because of my belief doesn’t mean the sun isn’t made of gases and also doesn’t mean I WON’T get burnt.

So God can’t be judged by those that follow him. Becoming a Christian doesn’t make you perfect, far from it. Becoming a Christian gives you forgiveness, mercy and grace but definitely not perfection. It gives you a reason to seek after doing good and getting things right but Christians are still very human. There is no mistaking that Christians over the centuries have made huge mistakes. There is no mistaking that some Christians are on the crazier side of sane. There is also no mistake that Christians, myself included, continue to make mistakes and are far from perfect. However, have we all really got it so wrong. Are we all really that deluded. Or is it possible that there is something that is worth looking into? Is there possibly something that can begin to make sense of the life that we’ve been given? Don’t get me wrong belief in God won’t give you all the answers, in fact in the short term it could raise more than it answers. However, Christianity will provide you with a firm foundation on which to build. The Bible describes Jesus as being our Rock on which to build our lives.

So what about today? Is it just the weak and the dumb that believe? In a world where science is touted as king are there intelligent people out there that have weighed up the evidence and have faith that the God of the Bible exists? Well the simple answer is a resounding YES!! There are millions of educated, intelligent, perfectly sane people that put their trust in God. Not a blind faith but a faith born out of research, thought and a weighing up of the evidence. So are all Christians deluded? Perhaps it may be worth finding out!