On Being a Phony

To me a Christian is either a man who lives in Christ or a phony.  You Christians do not appreciate that it is on this - the almost external testimony that you give of God - that we judge you.  You ought to radiate Christ.  Your faith ought to flow out to us like a river of life.  You ought to infect us with a love for him.  It is then that God who was impossible becomes possible for the atheist and for those of us whose faith is wavering.  We cannot help being struck, upset, and confused by a Christian who is truly Christlike.  And we do not forgive him when he fails to be.

~ A 23 year old woman in grad school at the University of Paris (quoted from The Importance of Being Foolish by Brennan Manning)

Comments

[Tony]

Guilty as charged. However, the honest atheist our doubtful seeker can't blame all their refusal on acknowledging God on his sinful saints.