This question is often asked by people who have church wounds and I can relate. As a former cult member, I have personally witnessed hypocrisy and many forms of abuse among Christians.
Being misled concerning eternal life and betrayed by fellow believers is certainly a traumatizing experience. It can shatter our trust in people and even in God.
Yet I had to recognize God wasn’t responsible for what my cult leaders were doing. Their behavior did not change God’s loving character nor make His faithful Word untrue—as evil and as abusive as their behavior was!
That is the crux of the matter.
And since God knows our human nature all too well, He doesn’t call His children to place their ultimate trust in fallible human beings. Instead, He calls us to trust in Him.
Trust God Rather Than Fallible Mankind
This is the crucial difference. Trusting in God is a foundational principle within Scripture with wonderful promises:
PSALM 37:5 NKJV
“Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.”
PROVERBS 3:5-6 ESV
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
ROMANS 10:11 NKJV
“Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
So the real question isn’t whether or not to “trust Christianity” it’s: “Whom are we ultimately trusting?”
People will fail us and we’ll fail others. It is just a matter of time. That’s why Scripture warns us against putting our ultimate confidence in people:
PSALM 118:8–9
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.”
Not Everyone Who Claims to Be a Christian Is One
Just because a person claims to be a Christian does not mean that they are a Christian! While genuine believers can fall into hypocrisy, many others will falsely profess to follow Christ. Christ warned us about false prophets who would come in His name and hypocrites who would appear righteous outwardly while their hearts were far from God:
MATTHEW 7:15 NKJV
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
The Apostles repeatedly warned us about false teachers, deceivers, and those who claim to follow Christ while denying Him with their lives:
ACTS 20:29-30 NKJV
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. ”
2 PETER 2:1 NKJV
“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”
The Bible is clear: people claiming to be Christians will certainly come to deceive others, so beware! So when someone says, “I can’t believe Christianity because Christians are such hypocrites,” I encourage them to separate the sins of individual people from the extravagant grace of God’s character.
God’s character is revealed in His Word, not defined by people.
Observe the Lasting Good Christians Have Brought
Christianity teaches our rights are given by God, not the government, making even rulers accountable to God’s higher authority (Acts 5:29). Christian conviction regarding mankind made in the image of God laid the foundation for human dignity and individual rights we observe today.
It was Christians leading the way creating universities, charitable organizations, hospitals, and fueling abolitionist movements against slavery.
William Wilberforce and the Abolition of Slavery
In 1785, British statesman William Wilberforce experienced a profound Christian conversion motivating his subsequent campaign against the slave trade. Working alongside other abolitionists, including Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp and Christian Quakers, he helped secure the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807. Their efforts contributed to the abolition of slavery throughout most of the British Empire in 1833 and full emancipation in the British Caribbean by 1838.[1]
In America, Harriet Tubman, with unwavering faith in God, repeatedly risked her life to lead enslaved people to freedom.
Hospitals and Care for the Sick
Around AD 370, Basil of Caesarea established one of history’s earliest major charitable hospital complexes, known as the Basileiad, providing medical care for the sick and shelter for the poor, travelers and people suffering from leprosy.
Basil believed that serving those in need was an essential expression of Christian love. His example helped inspire the expansion of Christian hospitals throughout the Roman Empire.[2]
Universities and Education
Christian institutions also played an important role in the development of Western universities. Oxford University, where teaching existed as early as 1096, developed within medieval Christian society, with theology becoming an important field of study alongside law and medicine to the known world.[3]
Charity and Helping the Poor
In 1865, Christian evangelists William Booth and his wife, Catherine, established the ministry that became the Salvation Army. Their work combined preaching the Gospel with feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, helping unemployed workers and caring for society’s most vulnerable. Today, that ministry continues across more than 130 countries.[4]
When we look at Christianity, even though it is represented by fallible people, we see a reflection of a loving, caring and just God who offers eternal life, liberty, justice for the oppressed and dignity to every human being.
Why? At the heart of these efforts is the biblical teaching that every human being is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and is therefore worthy of dignity, compassion, and justice, regardless of race, wealth, nationality, or social standing.
And while we need discernment when it comes to individual believers and churches—and we should certainly call out hypocrisy when we see it— we can be assured that God Himself is absolutely trustworthy.
Christians may fail us, but Jesus Christ never will. So let us keep our eyes upon Him regardless of what others may do.
Sources
- “The Abolitionists.” Parliament.Uk, 2019, Source link. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.
- “Basil’s House of Healing | Christian History Magazine.” Christian History Institute, Christian History, 2011, Source link. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.
- “Our History.” Oxford University, 2026, Source link. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.
- “History | Salvation Army International Headquarters.” Salvationarmy.Org, 2016, Source link. Accessed 23 Sept. 2026.
Suggested Reading
WallBuilders — The Bible, Slavery, and America’s Founders — Offers an excellent historical resource of America’s founding, all-too-often ignored by liberal progressive revisionist historians.
