{"id":1738,"date":"2014-09-05T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T11:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?p=1738"},"modified":"2014-09-05T05:00:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T11:00:46","slug":"christ-raised-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Christianity a waste?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sometimes I look at this life I\u2019m living, trying to make righteous choices, and the doubts creep in. I wonder if it\u2019s\u00a0just a waste of time<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0when I could be enjoying the full fruits of this world.<\/p>\n

After all, the world looks like they are having fun. Unbridled by the tenants of faith and the threat of sin, shame, and punishment, they do what they want. Morality is what you define it to be.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s everyone else. Since the beginning of time, it\u2019s estimated that more than 8 billion people have made a decision to follow Christ. Since 1934, the\u00a0number<\/a>\u00a0of Christians increased by 1300 percent while the world\u2019s population grew only 400 percent. Forsaking all, they have given up worldly pleasure, progress and modernism.\u00a0Did they miss out too?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

There are currently around 3.7 million churches around the world. They meet in schools, big cathedrals, strip malls, suburban campuses, and city parks. Multiply that number by the services last week. Sermons prepared. Songs sung. Bulletins printed. Nurseries staffed.\u00a0Are we wasting real estate, time and effort?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Worldwide, there a 320,000 full-time Christian\u00a0workers<\/a>\u00a0in the mission field. We have another 5.4 million full-time Christian workers at home.\u00a0Are we wasting resources?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The current\u00a0budget<\/a>\u00a0of all Christian ministries tops $163 billion a year.\u00a0<\/em>The total cost of outreach averages $330,000 for each and every newly baptized person.\u00a0Are we wasting money?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A<\/em>pproximately 83 million Bibles are\u00a0distributed<\/a>\u00a0globally per year. There are six million\u00a0books<\/a>\u00a0about Christianity in print today.\u00a0Are we wasting paper and trees? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever since the first century, Christians have been martyred for their faith. Some estimate more than 70 million have been killed for the sake of their belief in Christ. And in this supposedly enlightened age of tolerance, more than\u00a0100 million<\/a>\u00a0Christians around the globe are currently suffering\u00a0persecution<\/a>\u00a0and 170,000 are killed each year.\u00a0Are we wasting precious life?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus himself was a man of great attraction and persuasive power. He could have thrown the Romans out of Israel, ruled with peace and given the Jews back their land. Instead, he ended up tacked to a crude piece of wood.\u00a0Was his time on earth wasted?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul even suggested that\u00a0all of this was futile<\/strong>, and that \u201cwe, of all people, would be pitied.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf,\u201d he says, \u201cChrist were\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0raised from the dead.\u201d \u00a0But he\u00a0was<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0that changes everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s my one good reason.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every life. Every sermon. Every book. Every dollar. Every prayer. Every moment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a waste, because He lives.<\/p>\n

\"English:<\/a>
The cross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes I look at this life I\u2019m living, trying to make righteous choices, and the doubts creep in. I wonder if it\u2019s\u00a0just a waste of time\u00a0when I could be enjoying the full fruits of this world. After all, the world looks like they are having fun. Unbridled by the tenants of faith and the threat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1014,1069,1124],"class_list":["post-1738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-waste","tag-christ-raised-from-the-dead","tag-foolishness"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Christianity a waste?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All of this effort, time, and resources we spend on Christianity would be foolish, if Christ were not raised from the dead.That's my one reason to persevere\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Christianity a waste?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All of this effort, time, and resources we spend on Christianity would be foolish, if Christ were not raised from the dead.That's my one reason to persevere\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-05T11:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/f\/f8\/Cross_in_Grense_Jakobselv.JPG\/350px-Cross_in_Grense_Jakobselv.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rupzip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/\",\"name\":\"Is Christianity a waste?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-05T11:00:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-05T11:00:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\"},\"description\":\"All of this effort, time, and resources we spend on Christianity would be foolish, if Christ were not raised from the dead.That's my one reason to persevere\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Christianity a waste?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Rupert\"},\"description\":\"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com\",\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Christianity a waste?","description":"All of this effort, time, and resources we spend on Christianity would be foolish, if Christ were not raised from the dead.That's my one reason to persevere","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Christianity a waste?","og_description":"All of this effort, time, and resources we spend on Christianity would be foolish, if Christ were not raised from the dead.That's my one reason to persevere","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/","og_site_name":"David Rupert","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","article_published_time":"2014-09-05T11:00:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/f\/f8\/Cross_in_Grense_Jakobselv.JPG\/350px-Cross_in_Grense_Jakobselv.JPG"}],"author":"David Rupert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rupzip","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rupert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/","name":"Is Christianity a waste?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-09-05T11:00:46+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-05T11:00:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81"},"description":"All of this effort, time, and resources we spend on Christianity would be foolish, if Christ were not raised from the dead.That's my one reason to persevere","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/christ-raised-dead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Christianity a waste?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/","name":"David Rupert","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81","name":"David Rupert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Rupert"},"description":"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com","www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}