Answering those who have lost their faith

I've had a long-standing interest in answering those who have doubts or questions about their faith. My main focuses are generally Jesus' resurrection, the general integrity of the New Testament gospel accounts, and the problem of evil. But today I have in mind a woman I met who had left the faith for a different kind of reason: two leaders in her church, married to each other, were each having affairs on the side. Of course that doesn't have a direct bearing on whether God exists, or whether Jesus loves her. Even the best of us mere mortals has both good and bad mixed together in us.

But that doesn't really let us off the hook. Not many should be teachers; teachers are held to a higher standard. Their failings will affect people in that way. It's a variation of the problem of evil: how can a 'good' institution allow things like that? How can 'good' people do things like that? For some, it's a short step from taking God's forgiveness for granted to becoming hardened sinners. And if those hardened sinners are teachers, other people find it's a short step out the door, especially if their faith is new and fragile.

Church leaders aren't the only ones in responsible positions. I know people who were turned away from their faith by their parents' mistreatment or hypocrisy.

Here's the thing: If we count ourselves as witnesses for Christ, we're all responsible. I'm not saying that each of us is obligated to become the next great saint (though I suspect that one person the caliber of Saint Francis or Mother Theresa outweighs a dozen of the snide attackers). I'm saying that simply refraining from evil is far more important than we've given it credit for. If we consider ourselves witnesses for Christ -- or if we're the only Christian that someone knows -- we cannot be the one with the temper, the one with the hatred, the one with the arrogance, the one bearing false witness or slandering our neighbor, the one trying to dominate or put down the other person, or the one cheating or stealing or committing adultery.

Because honestly, some of the atheists that I've met have arguments that don't fully make sense or aren't particularly persuasive, and once an objection is answered they simply produce another objection. That's the sign of someone whose real reason is held in reserve or kept protected. May we not be the reason that they have left the faith.