20 Reasons to Embrace Christianity!

The other day, on the front page of a Google search, I happened upon a piece online called “20 Reasons to Abandon Christianity.” While I wasn't really impressed with what it had to say, I figured that it would be good to write a rejoinder. And even though I don't expect this blog page to show up on the front page of a Google search anytime soon (although one can dream!), may I present, for your reading pleasure, my own personal

20 Reasons to Embrace Christianity!

*Please note: Point 20 will include frank and open discussion of sexual topics – definitely PG-13 material. If you're not OK with that, skip over that one. You've been warned. *

1. Christianity teaches us to be good to each other and to love one another. - It's probably well-known by now, but Christ was the world's greatest moral teacher ever to live, bar none. His teachings on truly loving those who truly hate you, and turning the other cheek to those who smite it, are the loftiest ideals ever recorded, and remind us all that we have farther to go than we ever could in this life. As my New Testament professor would often say, when reading the Sermon on the Mount, “you should feel uncomfortable” with yourself.

2. Religion – and Christianity specifically - provides the basis of our government's foundation. As little as the irreligious like to admit it, this nation was founded with the implicit understanding that it would be religious. Granting religious tolerance for the irreligious, always, but distinctly religious. The best example that I've ever found is tucked away in the little-known fourth verse of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which reads as follows:
   “Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
   Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
   Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
   Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
   Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
   And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
   And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
   O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

Also, who can forget John Adams's bold assertation that “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”?

Or Abraham Lincoln, who said “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from The Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book.” I could go on, but I think the point is clear.

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3. It is the protector of heritage and culture. Call it backward if you'd like, but there are reasons that Christianity doesn't accept every new thing that comes along. One of them is because Christianity links us to our past and where we've come from, to a web of beliefs, stories, and values that stretches back two thousand years or more, and which provides an enduring foundation for shared morals, and from there, a harmonious society. Holding onto things just because they are old isn't a good idea, but neither is throwing something out because it's old, either. Christianity helps prevent the latter and strives to avoid the former.
4. Christianity teaches the basis of sound personal finance. If anyone has a doubt of this, listen to Dave Ramsey, the nation's leading expert in helping people get a hold of their finances, and try seeing how long until he quotes something out of the Bible about avoiding debt, transforming your life, or saving money. It won't be long, usually.
5. Christianity fosters independence, calculated risk-taking, and a host of other virtues that lead to a robust and bustling society.
6. It removes despair by helping us to look forward to a brighter tomorrow. God's promises in the Bible and throughout time have always given the believers hope, and whether or not you accept them, their positive effect on the psyche of the believer cannot help but be accepted.
7. It has always fostered beautiful music, art, and literature. Would you rather listen to “Messiah” by Handel, or “Comatose” by Skillet? I think my point is made.
8. Christianity isn't for the perfect. It is for every one of us that wants to live a better life, if we can work to cast off our own hypocrisy and not become offended when we see hypocrisy in others. In other words, it was designed for you. And for me.
9. The moral teachings in the Bible point us toward a higher life, and on the whole, Christians are more moral people for it. I echo the words of C.S. Lewis who said basically (although I regrettably cannot find the direct quote) that, if you see a wicked Christian, I only invite you to imagine how he would be if not a Christian.
10. It gives us tremendous examples of character to look up to. Not only Jesus' perfection in all aspects, but also Paul's zeal in spreading the truth, Job's patience in tribulation, Joseph's courage in resisting temptation, Peter's willingness to grow to a better person, and even Mother Teresa's tireless work in helping the poor and needy! (And I'm sure I've left out many, many examples from this list of the pious and virtuous.)
11. In a world of fast food, fast gratification, fast answers, (and its accompanying epidemics of obesity, drugs and superficiality), Christianity teaches us about how to develop content and hopeful waiting for a better tomorrow. Or in other words, patience.
12. It provides a ready-made social circle. - In a world of increasing isolation and mistrust, Christianity brings a pre-made set of friends that are united in a common bond of trust, hope, and peace.
13. Christianity teaches true humility: even Christ himself washed his follower's feet, which in his day was a dirty, disgusting, slimy task, one that implied servitude. (Regarding the number 13: Christ hung out all the time with his 12 apostles, presumably for a total of 13 people. So is 13 really all that unlucky a number?)
14. Christianity teaches family values that social science is only now beginning to understand are good for society. Two-parent homes raising biological children in wedlock – a Christian ideal, or a scientifically proven basis for happier children and a more cohesive society? Now that science is catching up, the answer can finally be both.
15. Christianity isn't afraid to take on influences that are prevalent in society that lead to unhappiness, regardless of how popular those influences or practices may be. (In Christian terms, these are known as “sins.” God typically isn't a fan of any of them.) The one that comes most strongly to mind in modern times is pornography. Although Christian leaders have rallied against it for decades, it only seems to have grown in popularity. And this at a time when the research is showing that it warps the brain, destroys our ability to have healthy relationships, and is addictive as any drug.
16. Christianity teaches us about God, and in so doing, teaches us about ourselves. Christianity teaches that man was made in God's own image and likeness, and so Christians learn about how our nature is toward goodness, happiness, and all other God-like attributes.
17. In Christianity, “scaring the hell out of someone” isn't just an expression of superlative surprise. Whether or not you believe in the actual existence of a being of surpassing badness and a realm of eternal misery set aside for those who follow him, you should agree that a belief in Satan and Hell has a tendency to scare people into doing good and being good throughout their lives, mainly because the alternative looks significantly less attractive.
18. Christianity helps us to put our mistakes in the past. We learn a lot about God's grace, and that we can be forgiven, even of what would otherwise appear unforgivable. That leads to inner peace and self-acceptance.
19. Personally, Christianity has given me answers when other places had no answers. In so doing, it helped me to hold on to my psyche and my childlike goodness in multiple times where I might have otherwise become embittered, psychologically fractured, and just plain stupid. So, although I'm wary to project my experience directly onto the circumstances of others (we're all very different, after all), I am thoroughly convinced that Christianity has the ability to help others in a similar way in their own lives. It has answers to questions that otherwise have no answers. Let's never forget that in a world where science and technology answer more and more questions, but can never quite answer them all.

20. Christianity leads to true sexual freedom. This one is a direct response to one of the “20 reasons to abandon Christianity,” which asserted that Christianity leads to sexual repression. The implication was that monogamous Christians don't have the freedom to experiment sexually with multiple partners (or other sexual practices considered taboo.) This one takes the cake for their point which I agree least with, because Christianity leads to greater freedom with one's partner. First, the emotional freedom is so much greater: how many non-Christian non-monogamists are there that have to worry about emotional fallout from failed relationships, or don't receive the greatest possible blessings emotionally from the sexual act? So many that see sex as the fulfillment of a primal urge, and not what it really is: the expression of enduring, abiding, deep and lasting love? I can't even imagine sex without being able to say “I love you,” and really mean it, and know that I'll always mean it. Second, it leads to freedom physically, because monogamy with a monogamous partner is a surefire way to prevent STDs, and “protection” becomes unnecessary. I have it on good authority that “protected” sex is generally less fulfilling, and although I've never tried it, it would truly be a limit to sexual freedom. Thus, Christianity leads to true sexual freedom.
    I agree with the words of Roger Staubach, a legendary quarterback who said “I enjoy sex as much as [the next guy]. Only I do it with one girl.”

So there you have it, 20 reasons to embrace Christianity. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether or not to do so, but that's one of the beautiful things about it: God can invite and persuade, but never force us to embrace anything.

P.S. - With every passing year, it looks like Christianity inches closer and closer to becoming a minority, in a country that recently was (arguably) the most Christian nation on Earth. But 2,000 years ago, we were an even smaller minority, and a deeply hated one at that. If we were to become a small, hated sect once again, I don't think it wouldn't affect my belief in it at all. In fact, I think that would allow more easily for the fulfillment of some of the bigger prophecies found in the scriptures. The fact that Christianity would be in the minority wouldn't mean that it's any more or less true, and it wouldn't affect any of the points I've raised here. You've got to watch out for the old bandwagon fallacy.