3 Reasons Why People Reject God

It has been my experience that the vast majority of people don't want to not believe in God. In other words, the reason we reject or do not follow him (and by him, I am referring to the God of the Bible, who is the first deity people think about when we talk about God in our culture) doesn't have to do with intellectual problems or doubts that people have.

I'm not saying that isn't part of the issue, but what I have seen is that isn't the main issue, even if it is the issue people often hide behind. When you talk to people long enough, you begin to see it's usually something more. In my experience, I have found that the three reasons below (though certainly not the only) are the biggest reasons people reject God and his plan for salvation (Jesus).

1) We think our "plan" is better

Most people wouldn't actually say it in this way, but this is what we mean when we talk about being a "good person." The prevailing belief in our culture today is the idea that God will forgive me and I'll go to heaven as long as my good outweighs my bad. 

And because we often have a good reason (or so we think) when we do something wrong to justify our actions, we actually don't think we are as bad as we really are. So when we think we don't really need Jesus and his forgiveness, what we are really saying is we think our plan of salvation is better. Otherwise, we would consider more strongly what Christ came to offer us. Which leads to another big reason people reject God.

2) We haven't actually spent anytime considering God's plan

I have found that one of the big reasons people reject Christianity is because, either intentionally or unintentionally, they haven't spent much time actually considering God's plan.

Here is an example, there are over 350 prophecies in the Old Testament about what the coming Messiah would come and do. What is fascinating about these prophecies is that while some "supernatural" and things we cannot prove (i.e. he would be born of a virgin, certain miracles he would perform, he would conquer death and resurrect, etc.), there are many things we can historically verify (things like where he was born, that he would be crucified on a cross, that he wouldn't argue and defend himself when he was falsely accused, and many more).

When you undersdtand how many things were written about a coming Messiah in the Old Testament (hundreds and in some cases over a thousand years before Jesus would come) and see how many we can historically verify that he fulfilled; you have to wrestle with the implications of that. And it can be easier to ignore them than deal with what it means if it is true.

Often all we know about Christianity is what some crazy person on the news said, or what a friend or co-worker said who also hasn't spent much time actually reading what Scripture says. When we confront it headion, it becomes a lot hard to ignore or dismiss.

3) We've misunderstood God's plan

Many people reject or have issues with God because we've been told or taught things that are flat out wrong. For example, if you've been told God will bless you financially as long as you give money away, but then you fell into more debt, you'll assume God didn't hold up his end of the bargain and get angry (which is understandable). However, if God never actually promised that that is how he operates (which he doesn't), then we can become mad at God for not doing what he never said he would do in the first place.

Or if we think as long as we are "good" and treat everyone with love then nothing bad should happen to us, then of course we take issue when someone we love who by all accounts is a decent person gets diagnosed with cancer. We think God hasn't done what he said he would do.

But what if the real problem is we have fundamentally misunderstood God and who he is? What if instead we knew that God loves us as we are and desires to give us grace and forgiveness? And that in this life we aren't promised that everything will go the way we want, but that one day in his kingdom pain, death, and suffering will no longer exist? As a pastor, I've found that many of our issues with God come from misunderstanding who he is and his plan for our lives.

There are other reasons

Yes, there are certainly other reasons why people reject Jesus and His plan of forgiveness and grace for them, but in my experience these are the biggest three. And for those struggling with the idea of Jesus and who he is, know that God is not afraid of your questions, doubts, and reservations. God loves you, that is why Jesus came.