I go back to the 60's. When I was in High School Dylan got popular. But I liked how the Byrds played his songs. There was Simon and Garfunkel, the Yardbirds, of course the Rolling Stones and Beatles, then later the San Francisco groups. I thought their music was very cerebral, especially when a few thought enhancing substances were added. On the darker side was the Doors. On the lighter, more spiritual side was the Moody Blues. All of them brought me to a place far above the every day world. They led me into a search for a spiritual reality. Unlike you, I'm still searching and still listening to music. I work in construction and those that work under me grew up with 90's Alternative. I like it. They maybe lost and have no real answers, and a lot of them, already dead, but they can be very honest about what they see around them.
I was going to call the hippy police and report your leaving out Led Zeppelin but the yard birds was close. I like all those bands. I think the 80's was the funeral pyre for music. I however would not use a single one of hem for spiritual research. I still listen to them but not for educational purposes.
What's important about them, I think for you, is how society has failed them. It gives them little hope, and that includes Christianity. I'm sure you're very different from what you used to be since you became a believer. But what happens? You get judged, not from where you came from, but as to why you aren't even better than what you are. Because you believe in Jesus, you're in the spotlight. Your life has to be almost perfect or someone's going to point their finger at you and say, "I told you Christians aren't that good."
This is what happens when you get theology from burned out hipster duffuses. Juts kidding but your Christianity is incorrect.
1. God's demands perfection. No bell curves, no how far I progressed, no 6 billion differencing standards.
2. I failed and every human who ever existed failed except Christ.
3. God provided my solution to his equation.
4. By faith my sin was punished on the cross and Christ's perfection applied to my account. That is where all those verses about putting on Christ or white robes. Or it is now not I but Christ who lives within me come from. My record is no longer what is judged eternally, it is Christ's. He passed with a mark of perfect in every category so I will.
5. That does not suggest I am not to be as moral as I can be. I will still be judged temporally for my actions but not eternally.
That not only is the biblical message of substitutionary atonement it is also the only coherent salvation model possible.
So even if you are a shining example of what a good Christian should be, because you're not perfect, people will still find a flaw. But what about all the so-so Christians? The ones that do virtually nothing, but still love to preach at people. They go to church on Sunday and live like the devil the rest of the week. They don't even come close to being a good example of how a Christians should be living. I think that's the worst. Here we are, all looking for the light. They say they have the light. They show us in the Book where it talks about the light, but when we see how they live, we don't see the light. We see a messed up person living a lie... that has nothing we want and nothing we need. And because of that, we question God and his Book and say, "Yeah, it's all a bunch of myths and legends. It's nothing real. Heck, God probably isn't even real."
Well my position does not include judgments people make about each other.
1. The bible says when we are born again the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts ( I was not expecting that as I was not biblically educated) but that is exactly what occurred to me, it also says our name is written into the book of life (the book in revelations that determines who gets into heaven, and that God is the guarantor of our salvation from that moment (not our behavior).
2. All of our sins were committed after the cross, Christ said he came to forgive all the sins of those who believe, he said he will never leave us nor forsake us.
I can go on all day but the point is our behavior is no longer eternally the question. We are too be good but it is Christ's merits that make up the difference between our behavior and God's standard and his merits were of infinite quality and capacity. We all come up short, but no one with faith comes up too short for Christ to remedy. So from Billy Graham, to Jeffrey Dahmer (if his conversion claims were true) you are seeing an example of Grace. No Christian deserves or merits heaven so your disappointment in their actions is caused by your looking for something no one has. Now if you want examples of moral excellence (not perfection) even in the face of death and lifelong hardship Christianity has more than you can research but when Paul calls himself the chief of sinners Christian perfection is not to be expected.
Anyway, take care. I'm going to get my guitar and try and learn a couple Nirvana songs and maybe a Stone Temple Pilot song. Or, maybe I should read the Bible? Nah, it's so antiquated. What could it possibly teach me? Maybe I'll write a song: Life sucks. There's no meaning in it. Maybe I'll take some drugs.. Oh yeah, yeah. It's dark and lonely. I'm going nowhere, but there's no where to go anyway. So, I'll stay here... Yeah, yeah...
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Some of your questions are good but you seem to always assume some unjustifiable, unknowable, and negative answer to them. There must be a reason the bible changed the world more than any other subject or text, there must be a reason Jesus is the most morally influential being in I history, etc.... Maybe
Let me end with an anecdotal story. In England's lowest point in WW2, being bombed into rubble by thousands of German planes. Churchill could have picked anyone to address the nation. He chose C.S. Lewis. His talks were recorded and put in book form. They are among the most important extra biblical words in history. I will paraphrase a relevant claim he made. He said you can accept Christ as God, or curse him as a lunatic, what you can't do is ignore him as simply another moral teacher.
Let me recommend someone to you, you will find him as caring as a Teddy bear and as knowledgeable as Newton. At least give one of Ravi Zacharias talks a few minutes on u-tube. He is not a systematic debater like Craig or D'Souza. He is a devoted philosopher with more degrees than you can count and probably the most respected defender of the faith next to Billy Graham.
