The Mystery of Christophobia

There are a lot of good, innocent people in our culture who are accused of being phobic. Certain groups who would compete for power with the majority use phobic accusations with great skill. A phobic is someone who has an irrational fear of something or someone and tries desperately to avoid them. Homophobia is an irrational fear of homosexuals. Zenophobia is a fear of the unknown or of those who have cultural distinctions that differ from ours. Genderphobia is a fear of those who seem hopelessly confused about their sexual identity. One phobia we never hear about in our culture is Christophobia, an irrational fear of Christ or Christians. This phobia is very widespread but is muted by an anti-Christian media because it makes no contribution to their agenda.

Art Spander, prominent sports writer, recently wrote that that Tim Tebow may be a good pick for the Denver Broncos because he has those “immeasurable intangibles”. Spander declared Tebow’s ethic to be superb but the one glaring negative in Tim Tebow is his zealous devotion to Christ. Why would Mr. Spander believe that to be a drawback? Why isn’t it a drawback when Phil Jackson, coach of the Miami Heat, zealously commits to Zen and Buddhist mentalities? It doesn’t seem to be a drawback when an NBA athlete is zealous for Islam.

Franklin Graham was recently disinvited to speak on National Prayer Day at the Pentagon because of his opposition to the radical teaching of Islam. There would be no such reversal if Franklin Graham were Buddhist or Hindu or Islamic. Christophobia, like a contagious disease, has infected all levels of our society. It is rotting its way through our public schools and universities. It has turned great statesmen in our Congress into political wimps who are fearful of offending some fringe group in our society. It infects even our president. Christians wait on the edge of their seats for Obama to specifically name the One he claims to devoutly follow. Sit back and relax, Christians, Obama can’t declare Christ to be his Savior without offending hundreds of millions. So, it won’t happen.

Christ is gradually being purged from the public square. Prayer is banned in public schools. Our Christian holidays are being purged from the calendar. Christophobes have replaced ‘Merry Christmas’ with ‘Happy Holidays’. The Ten Commandments have been taken off the walls of our court houses. Don’t hold your breath waiting for these Christophobes to remove Ramadan from our calendars. Our courts are very sensitive to protect the rights of those wishing to embrace a perverse lifestyle but they are deaf to those who would choose to embrace Christ.

Another Supreme Court justice has announced his retirement. Obama will replace Justice John Paul Stephens with a person of like beliefs. He will especially want to appease the pro-choice faction. The two most likely candidates happen to be Jewish. If he appoints either of these our Supreme Court will consist of six Catholics and three Jews. For the first time in our 220 year history there will be no Protestants on the court. Our media won’t mention it and most American Christians will fail to notice or they will remain apathetic if they do.

What is the mystery behind Christophobia? Why is Christianity now the target of such hatred and unfounded criticism? Why does Islam get a pass? Why do the most radical of fringe groups get ignored but the larger segment of the population who call themselves Christians are targeted with such vehement hatred? Will Christianity become the new “N” word in our culture?

Those who hate Christians also deny the Book of the Christians because the book explains clearly why they fear Christ. A fear of Mohammed is unfounded. He lies dead in a grave. The fear of Buddha is unfounded. His bones have turned to dust. But the fear of Christ is real. They fear him because he is not dead! Christians seem to have a regenerative power that non-Christians fear. Destroy one Christian and two more appear. Opposition and resistance only strengthens Christians. Be assured, all the efforts we are witnessing to stamp out Christianity will surely backfire. Persecution is like fertilization in the garden of growing Christians.

Christophobia is so prevalent because there is an innate fear in every being God created. It is a fear of “the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) Many will deny there is life after death but there is a treacherous fear deep in their souls of the One who “has the power to throw you into hell.” (Luke 12:5) A common method of dealing with such fear is to simply extinguish one’s belief in such a God. Atheists tend to become very fearful as they near the end of their lives.

There is a sense of false comfort among Christophobes. The historical Christ they see is a meek Christ, a ‘turn the other cheek’ kind of guy. A man so ‘powerless’ he submitted to the horror of crucifixion. He certainly doesn’t seem to be someone to be feared. But when the trumpet sounds and the eastern sky splits they will see a different Christ. They will see a great warrior-Christ who will come to defend the honor of his Father in heaven. He will set all wrongs right. He will be dashing and magnificent and he will crush the armies of the wicked. The mystery of Christophobia will be swept away in an instant.