Our 21st century world is an ever-changing one, with a high demand for equality, love and peace.
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This means that, because of a lot of its orthodox views and ways of life, Christianity is slowly becoming a minority and we can see it often being looked down on in the media.
But just who really are Christians, and how are they viewed?
Dr Wes Bredenhof, pastor of the Free Reformed Church of Launceston, describes a Christian as someone who believes everything that the Bible teaches is from God and is entirely true; that they are a rebel against God at heart and in need of his forgiveness and healing; and that there is public and objective truth outside of themselves, which comes from the Bible.
With all this in mind, he says he can understand how and why many people today might view Christians as dangerous, intolerant, unloving, and ignorant.
If you can’t get your head around the Biblical worldview, then it makes sense to view Christians negatively, and as a threat, he said.
As someone who has been mocked and mistreated for his faith both in real life and online, Dr Bredenhof agrees that, for a lot of people Christianity may not be appealing or very approachable.
He believes this is because the message of the Bible goes against what modern culture teaches in so many ways, for Biblical Christianity to genuinely appeal to anybody there needs to be a spiritual miracle inside that person’s heart.
...for Biblical Christianity to genuinely appeal to anybody there needs to be a spiritual miracle inside that person’s heart.
- Dr Wes Bredenhof
However, Dr Bredenhof thinks that Christianity should be viewed as one of society’s greatest assets due to its long-time providence of stable foundations to the development of western civilization and developments of concepts such as human rights, which it is still at the forefront of defending today amongst the most vulnerable in our society.
He is delighted when someone asks to know more about his faith and what makes him different, because it provides him with an open opportunity to share what’s most important in his life: Jesus Christ and what he’s done for rebels and traitors like himself, he said.
So don’t be afraid to talk to a Christian when you meet one – the conversation might be more interesting than you think.
