Recently, I was walking through London’s Leicester Square in the rain. A man was shouting at the crowds that passed by: "I used to have mental problems, but God healed me!"
As I looked at his rain-drizzled face and his wide eyes, my immediate unspoken response was "Are you sure?"
That might not be the most loving or appropriate response, but it was an honest one. When I used to be an atheist, I encountered many people whose behaviour seemed at odds with their apparent Christianity: middle-aged folk at baptisms who tutted when I fumbled through the hymn book; strange men who screamed Bible passages from outside Brixton tube station.
John Lennon - author of 'Imagine', the atheists’ own hymn - once said that he didn’t have much of a problem with Jesus, but he didn’t like the people who claimed to follow him. From disgraced fundamentalist preachers to Hansie Cronje, it’s easy to think of examples where Christians fail. Narnia author C.S Lewis was once asked to ‘justify’ such behaviour: ah, he replied, think how much worse they’d be without God.
I still believe that Christians have the greatest message of hope mankind has ever known. God has never let me down, but people are less reliable - and, even with God’s help, Christians are still human beings.
I am not saying that poor behaviour in the name of Christ should be ignored - but sometimes it’s worth looking beyond the messenger, to check out the quality of the Message.