Why do christians disavow previous christians whose bad behavior is exposed?

Question

Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, Adolf Hitler are examples. I often find this major contradiction...Many christians claim that the best way to show unbelievers the way of god is to walk the walk. Yet, when they stumble (as the above people have), their fellow believers will claim that they are not "true" christians.

So how is an unbeliever to know who is a "true" christian and who is not, so that we may observe and compare their behavior objectively? Claiming a bad-behaving christian as not a "true" christian after the fact does not lend any sense of objectivity to this exercise.

Answer 1

They want to distance themselves from it so that they aren't painted with the same brush. I maintain that a badly-behaving Christian is, in fact, a "true" Christian. The behavior doesn't mean that they aren't Christians, or never were, it only means that they have been caught and exposed. That exposure is less telling than the reactions of other Christians, which is the absolute height of hypocrisy. "Oh, he did THAT? Well, he's not a TRUE Chrstian!" Sure he's not.

Any belief system that allows you to look at another human being, and believe that person is going to Hell after death (unless you save him/her, of course), that allows you to accept and embrace that view, and be OK with that, is inherently bad.

Answer 2

To group Adolf Hitler with the others is absolutely ludicrous.

Having said that, although our lives should reflect the love of God and the righteousness of God, all Christians sin, all make mistakes, all fall short of the high standards of God. Thank God that we can go to God and ask His forgiveness and He forgives completely. For those in "high places", very public positions, there is a greater need for carefulness, faithfulness, etc. Unfortunately, with position often comes pride. Bakker, Swaggert, Ted Haggard - I do not doubt that they are Christians. They simply fell and can be picked up again and forgiven by Jesus Christ.

Tragically, sometimes Christians shoot their wounded.

god bless

Answer 3

Adolf Hitler was a Christian? Thats a news flash to me; Look, this is the deal:
Anybody in the world can tell folks that they are Christian. Some are, some aren't, but theres good money in the religious scams of the world, don't you agree?
The way to know if someone is preaching the true Word of God, is simple: You know what the true Word of God says. If someone gets on tv and preaches something that doesn't line up with whats Biblical, hey - guess what: they are preaching their own words, not Gods.
But people seem to find it easier to listen to some goofball than to check him out against the Word. If you do not know what God says, you will never know if what you are hearing is the truth. period. Its up to the individual person to either be lazy or be informed. Personally, I think this is one of the things that separates a true Christian from somebody who just wants to "play church". This being said, there is something else to consider here:
All people, regardless of what religion they are, make mistakes. God never chose anybody who is perfect to do his work. Why? Because there aren't any perfect people. Even a pastor/priest/teacher of the Word is still human and is capable of great sins. BUT: this does not excuse a man of the cloth from being a blatent hypocrite. Someone who teaches against homosexuality and then is found to be doing it himself should be pulled off that pulpit in a heartbeat. My biggest problem with these preacher you mention is not that they sin; we all sin, and forgiveness is for everyone, even preachers - but what I find most horrific is that they teach lies - if they are gonna be wearing the cloth, they should be teaching the Word of God, not their own words. This is not just a "bad-behaving Christian", this is a man who is responsible for thousands of people being taught lies, and that is whats most disgusting.
It doesn't surprize me if a man has been tempted with something sexual - welcome to the flesh - but a man of the cloth is supposed to know better than to teach falsely. Its the responsibity of every Christian to know whether what is being taught is correct. If those thousands of Christians who listen to those idiots would just open their Bible and compare what is being taught to the Scripture, they would turn the tv set off within the first 3 minutes.

Answer 4

I have a question that might totally answer your question. If a kamakazi pilot takes off in a plane and sees his target and dives at it.. but he does not hit the target... Is he still a kamakazi pilot? When you know the answer to that you will see the problem.
An unbeliever might study the King James version of the Bible. It is only as perfect as the translators, but it is a place to start. You will enjoy the Beatitudes, the ten commandments and the golden rule. :)

Answer 5

I don't think I'd call Adolf Hitler a "christian" .
They will know you are christian by your love.
Did he show love by killing God's chosen people? So do you really think he was on God' side by doing what he did? He was a scoundrel and Satanic. He even was into seances which is Satanic.
Now for the other guys they have fallen. This is what satan wants to happen to Christians. See them fall from Grace. I disapprove of the behavior of these Evangelists but do I judge them? No, I don't have the qualifications and I have sin myself.
"All sin and fall short of the glory of God". We Christians are the same as you. Have the same desires and wants. The difference is we try and live life according to God's will and not by our flesh . Sometimes we fail. Satan loves it when we fail.
†

Answer 6

dis·a·vow (ds-vou) KEY

TRANSITIVE VERB:
dis·a·vowed , dis·a·vow·ing , dis·a·vows
To disclaim knowledge of, responsibility for, or association with.

If it's a persons objective to rise above and evolve from the need of faith thru any religion than they have already obtained the logic to know the difference.

Answer 7

First off, Hitler was an occultist, who used christianity to get people to follow him. People have used the word of God to do evil for centuries, they're trying to justify their evil. The other people you mention are televangelists, they use the word of God to become wealthy. These are people who convince the elderly on social security that they won't get to heaven if they don't send them their money, hence my grandma's friend eating cat food because she sent most of her money to these charlatans. You won't find many "true christians" living in mansions. It's easy to tell a true christian, they walk the walk, don't just talk the talk.

We all stumble, none of us is sin-free, but to blindly follow those we know are in it for the cash or power is just ignorant. It's not our job to judge other christians, it's our job to do the best we can do ourselves.

Answer 8

An unbeliever doesn't need to know who is a true Christian. It's between God and that Person.

Answer 9

The easiest way to prove a Man or a WOman that He/She is a Christian is if He/She is offering you to be a Christian too. And if You noticed Love and imperfection on Him/Her becoz nobody is perfect. If someone told you He/She is a Christian and He is always pleasing you, be cautious, maybe that person need something on you.

Answer 10

Since there are so many Christians, even Christian leaders, who fall from grace -- ie. their hypocrisy or "sinful" actions are discovered -- or who do not really overcome there weaknesses, a reasonable person can only conclude that Christianity simply does not work, that it does not have the power to help people overcome their failings or baser instincts.