In this bulletin series we’ve been looking at common objections to Christianity. This week I want to look at the objection that some people are too evil to be a Christian.

When you share the good news about Jesus Christ with non-Christians, some of them may object that Christianity is not for them because they are not sinners. That is the objection we dealt with in our last article. But then some people swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and claim that they cannot be a Christian because they are terrible sinners.

There are a couple of reasons why people think they are too sinful to be a Christian. Firstly they may have had a little to do with Christians and, in their experience, have noticed that Christians are nicer than others. Hence they believe that they cannot be a Christian because they aren’t nice.

Another reason some people think they are too sinful to be a Christian is because they have misunderstood the teachings of Christianity. They have been influenced by one of the many religions which teach that if you are good, you are one of them. Whereas if you are bad, you are not part of their religion. And so the non-Christian thinks that this teaching is included in the teachings of Christianity.

Now Christianity does indeed teach that bad people do not go to heaven. But Christianity is unique in comparison to other religions in that it points out that no one goes to heaven because of their own good works. This is because everyone is a sinner and does not deserve heaven. But then Christianity tells you that there is a way to heaven for sinners and that is through the work of Jesus Christ at the cross: ‘Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation’ (Colossians 1:21-22).

Thus the person who recognises their sin is a perfect candidate to be a Christian. Jesus himself says he came for such people: ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’ (Mark 2:17).

Do you think you are too sinful to be a Christian, or do you recognise that Jesus welcomes you no matter how sinful you are?

Joel Radford.