Why are evangelicals only slightly more appreciated than prostitutes?

Today, I’m chewing on Hosea, the Old Testament book in which God tells the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute. And when she is unfaithful God commands him to literally buy her back at a prostitute’s price... it's supposed to be an allegory for God’s relationship with Israel. People like the book because it graphically demonstrates God’s passionate pursuit of people, even at the cost of his own dignity.

But today I’m drawn in by something else. I’m amazed by the way God talks about righteousness and unrighteousness. Here’s an example from chapter 4:

“There is no faithfulness, no love,
    no acknowledgment of God in the land.
There is only cursing,^[a] lying and murder,
    stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
    and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”

Notice anything? Faithfulness, love, and acknowledgment of God (the good stuff)... those are internal realities. Cursing, lying, and murder... that’s all external. So when people are spiraling away from God, the proof here is seen in their actions.

And while we all expect goodness to symmetrically show itself as a behavioral reality, in fact, it’s a heart thing. Paul says it this way in Galatians 5:

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

We all know that attitudes and behavior are inextricably linked. Of course they are! But when talking about goodness, the bible (at least from the prophets onward) is careful about NOT talking it as just a behavioral thing. I imagine it’s a built-in safeguard against legalism and self-righteousness.

Shame on the Church for missing this. We’ve gotten good at defining ourselves as a religious community by what we don’t do and don’t approve of. That may be one reason that in 2002, the Barna Group reported,

Surprisingly Few Adults Outside of Christianity Have Positive Views of Christians

Well, in fact, when asked to give their impressions of 11 groups, non-Christians ranked “evangelicals” at number 10... just ahead of prostitutes.

We like being able to judge the behavioral indicators of “moral decay”. But then we define our own goodness in the same behavioral terms. But as much as we stand apart from the herd in our refusal to drink, swear, smoke, or sleep around (calling it our “testimony”), non-Christians can still take one look at our attitude and disposition and say, “Yeah right. I’m not buying what you’re selling.”

So next time you hear a Christian rant about the rotten state of affairs in the world, you can say, “so what makes you any better?” And if they tell you all about their quiet times, or political activism, or church attendance, or lifestyle choices, just say, “alright, but how’s your heart? Because from where I sit, you’re still not looking any better than anyone else.” If you say do that, you may be doing that person a huge favor.