Why People Don't, Part II
The second reason (see post below) is pride. This type of pride comes in two varieties: Pride in one's intellectual abilities, and pride in one's wisdom to run his/her own life and not submit to a higher authority.
Hamlet tells Horatio, "There are more things in this world than are dreamt of in your philosophies." (Sorry, not exactly verbatim.) To reject the Christian faith because it goes outside one's experiences or current knowledge is not only prideful, but unimaginative. This kind of pride often uses another excuse to mask itself. People with this kind of pride are often self-deluded.
The third reason is, and this will make some people mad, honesty. Some people just honestly cannot accept Christianity, even if they would like to. They don't want to play the game, act like they believe something they don't, and have a strong sense of inner consistency. They understand the faith, they appreciate the faith, they know and respect people of the faith, but they don't or can't accept the faith (and I mean the one once delivered to the saints), so they don't. There is hope for these people.
The fourth reason a person rejects the faith is apathy. They don't care. They see no connection between the faith and themselves. There might be good reasons for this, but one might be that they judge the whole world as "what's in it for me, what will I get out of it." If someone professes that he/she) comes to Christ on that basis and gets no further, they will probably be like the choked weeds in the parable.
The fifth reason is ignorance, which is the fault of the church, as we all know.
Hamlet tells Horatio, "There are more things in this world than are dreamt of in your philosophies." (Sorry, not exactly verbatim.) To reject the Christian faith because it goes outside one's experiences or current knowledge is not only prideful, but unimaginative. This kind of pride often uses another excuse to mask itself. People with this kind of pride are often self-deluded.
The third reason is, and this will make some people mad, honesty. Some people just honestly cannot accept Christianity, even if they would like to. They don't want to play the game, act like they believe something they don't, and have a strong sense of inner consistency. They understand the faith, they appreciate the faith, they know and respect people of the faith, but they don't or can't accept the faith (and I mean the one once delivered to the saints), so they don't. There is hope for these people.
The fourth reason a person rejects the faith is apathy. They don't care. They see no connection between the faith and themselves. There might be good reasons for this, but one might be that they judge the whole world as "what's in it for me, what will I get out of it." If someone professes that he/she) comes to Christ on that basis and gets no further, they will probably be like the choked weeds in the parable.
The fifth reason is ignorance, which is the fault of the church, as we all know.
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