I Judged Christians Until I Became One - The Heart Behind Courage to Learn
- Claire Maendel
- May 12
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
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I used to judge Christians.
And now that I’m a Christian, I have to be careful not to judge people who don’t believe.
It’s a little like ex-smokers becoming the harshest critics of smokers — when really, they should understand the struggle better than anyone.
This has caused me to reflect deeply on how differently people see the world.
To me, it seems like many people live in two different “bubbles.”
On one side, there are people living in comfortable suburban neighbourhoods thinking they “have it made” — the boats, the cars, the beautiful home, the camper they take out every summer with their family of four.
You know the type — the favourite hockey team flag hanging on the garage door. (Not trying to call anyone out here.)
People who live primarily for the physical things of this world. And sure, maybe they do have it all figured out.
Then there’s the other side of the bubble: people who may actually have many of the same physical things, but their ultimate goal in life is different.
They don’t want to live for those things.
They want to live for Jesus.
Now, maybe that sounds overly simplistic. Maybe it doesn’t even sound rational.
But here’s what I’ve come to realize:
Those two bubbles are actually inside one much bigger bubble — the world itself.
The world that God sees.
Believers and non-believers alike.
I was listening to the Wild At Heart podcast recently who had a man who grew up in poverty and later became a pastor in America. He was raised by a single mother who wasn’t a believer, but every Sunday she still dropped him off at church because she thought it was “good for him.”
He later said it was one of the greatest things she ever did for him.
He believed that without those Sundays at church, he may never have discovered his calling to become a pastor. And now he is eternally grateful.
Then he said something that stayed with me:
“God doesn’t just speak to believers. He speaks to non-believers too.”
That line inspired me to write this post.
Because sometimes — whether you’re a believer or not — you can become trapped in your own bubble.
As Christians, it can become: “Here I am over here going to church, reading my Bible, praying, trying to live rightly… while those people over there are just BBQing and talking about sports.”
And meanwhile, those same people may be watching us leave for church on Sunday morning thinking: “Look at those people acting like they’re better than everyone else.”
Do you know what that is?
It’s judgment.
And it exists on both sides of the bubble.
Before I rediscovered God in my mid-20s, I was doing the exact same thing. I’d drive past churches thinking Christians must be brainwashed. And rolled my eyes at the "do gooders."
At the same time, I was living in ways that were slowly pulling my life apart — although back then I even thought the word sin sounded archaic.
Then I heard Jordan Peterson describe sin as simply:“Missing the mark.”
That definition made me look at it differently.
Because I could clearly see I was missing the mark in many areas of my life.
And eventually it became impossible for me to ignore that our actions don’t just have physical consequences.
They have spiritual consequences too.
And when you know, you know. It's an individual, personal relationship and experience.
One thing I’ve also noticed in religious communities is the temptation to “one-up” others spiritually — as if becoming Christian somehow makes someone more evolved or morally superior.
Ironically, some non-believers also think they too are morally superior because they think this whole God business is for idiots.
However, I don't believe becoming a Christian makes you morally superior at all.
In fact, becoming one has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.
Because faith, at least in my experience, isn’t about pretending you have everything figured out.
Just because you are a born again Christian, doesn't mean you don't need a spiritual "reboot" from time to time. And it's called "becoming" one for a reason, because it's a continual process.
It’s about confronting your own flaws, weaknesses, struggles, and vulnerabilities over and over again.
It’s about recognizing how often we “godify” other people, status, success, politics, money, or even ourselves.
And it’s about growing closer to God day by day through honesty and humility.
And building secure attachment with the One who created you.
That’s the heart behind why I named this blog Courage to Learn.
Because before I fully understood Christians, I judged them.
I assumed I already knew what they believed. I thought faith was weakness, ignorance, or blind tradition.
But eventually I had to confront the possibility that I didn’t understand it at all.
And that required something difficult:
Humility.
The willingness to admit I might be wrong.
The courage to learn...
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"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." - James 5:16
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