Judgmental Christians

As you will see later in this chapter, being judgmental is one of those areas of the Christian life in which it is very easy to make mistakes. A definition will help us here. To be judgmental is to point out something that is wrong in someone else's life, making the person feel put down, excluded, and marginalized. Some part of their potential to be Christ followers is snuffed out. Being judgmental is fueled by self-righteousness, the misguided inner motivation to make our own life look better by comparing it to the lives of others.

Unfortunately, Christians in our culture have become identified with this perception. Nearly nine out of ten young outsiders (87 percent) said that the term judgmental accurately describes present-day Christianity. This was one of the big three---the three most widely held negative perceptions of Christians (along with being antihomosexual and hypocritical). Just to put this in practical terms, when you introduce yourself to a twentysomething neighbor, and you mention your faith, chances are he or she will think of you as judgmental.

We also discovered that our better-than-thou attitudes are apparent to young churchgoers. Most Christian young people told our interviewers that our faith seems too focused on other people's faults. More than half the young Christians between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine (53 percent) said they believe that the label judgmental accurately fits present-day Christianity.

pgs. 182-183
UnChristian - What a new generation really thinks about Christianity ...and why it matters