If there is anything wrong with how Christianity is sometimes preached today, perhaps it is stripping away the rest and solace that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
The Unappealing Image of Religion
To an unbeliever, the Christian faith may seem nothing more than a rigid set of rules. It’s an antiquated belief that is simply boring, tiresome and unpalatable.
It preaches them a standard of holiness they can never live up to. It asks them to carry heavy burdens, and live a life of loneliness, pain and suffering.
“Don’t do this! Don’t do that!” it tells lost people. But it doesn’t clearly lead them to what they should be doing and what they could look forward to if they follow the right path.
It gives them a terrifying picture of hell without giving them a glimpse of paradise.
What People Need
People who are sick and hurt and dying want rest, healing and hope. They need comfort right where it hurts the most. But what happens when the religion you offer them is something that does not even seem to care about what they’re going through?
I agree that there must always be a place for teaching about suffering, self-sacrifice and the eternal punishments of hell. But if these are taught without the sweetness of love and the gentleness of a kind God, what would it all sound like?
It would sound as though you are coercing people to believe through threat. It would sound as though the message you’re preaching is not about salvation but slavery.
Rather than loving God, it teaches them to be angry at God!
Should we tell wounded people they should be made to feel more guilty because they aren’t holy enough? Or that their sufferings are as nothing compared to the saints?
Of Suffering, Healing and Love
Suffering is not the main message. It is salvation! Christ has died for us not to put us forever in torment, but to save us from eternal pain.
There is a proper place for suffering in the Christian life, but the Christian life is not all about suffering.
Christian life is about love and meaning. It is about filling the unquenchable thirst in a person’s heart and soul. Christianity is about healing, mercy and hope. It is the triumph of life over death, of goodness over evil. It is finding a God who knows you and loves you and desires for your eternal happiness and good.
The saints were able to suffer because they were able to know what true happiness means. They knew the bliss of rapture, the incomparable happiness and peace that can only be found in God.
“Love is a great thing, greatest of all goods, because it alone renders light every burden and bears equally all that is unequal. Because it carries a burden without feeling it, and renders sweet and pleasing every bitterness.” – Thomas Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
Let’s not make it appear as though all that Christianity can offer the world is pain. Let’s not make it sound like the happiness that the world offers is more appealing than what heaven can provide.
People are crying, and so we must give them comfort. People are lost, and so we must show them the Light.
The Gaze of Jesus
“And if the people are wounded, what does Jesus do? Does He rebuke them for being wounded? No, He comes and carries them on his shoulders.” – Pope Francis
Once people see the gaze of Christ, they would gladly offer the sacrifice of their lives. But we must first draw them near to Him who is perfect life, incomparable beauty and boundless joy!
Don’t begin by luring people in mental gymnastics and endless debates. Begin by being a witness of what it means to be a Christian. Let people see Jesus Christ in you. The God who wept. The Lord who healed. The kind Master who invited all to come to Him so He could love them and give them rest.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSVCE)
You may also want to read:
If God is Loving, How Could He Allow So Much Suffering?
Where Is God When Disasters Happen?
Jocelyn Soriano is the author of Mend My Broken Heart, Questions to God and 366 Days of Compassion. She also writes about relationships and the Catholic faith at Single Catholic Writer.
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