What are some of the reasons people become Christians?

Yes, I’m a Christian because of the events (things that happened to me that confirmed my Faith) in my life. Also, based on my upbringing! Had a cousin that had an influence on me! Not parents.

You’re born into a Christian family;
You go to school with Christians and they invite you to church;
You’re born in a “Christian country”
A series of traumatic events cause some people to seek a Higher Power and He is Jesus (due to the above circumstances)

Because their parents are.

@YARNLADY actually, my parents were not church goer’s. Just always felt good at church. Now, the kids are gone, don’t go much. But, it is still the foundation on how I live my life.

Atheists notwithstanding, most of us innately feel a spirit-base in our lives, and the presence of this spirit either commands or doesn’t command our attention and is either tended to or neglected. Regardless, that presence rarely departs for good, and at the very least nudges us along however indiscreetly. While some choose to tend to this spirit presence in a more or less unique manner, the vast majority of us choose a major religion, which provides a well worn path for living a spiritual life, much like farming wisdom provides a well worn path for growing food—some people choose to grow hydroponically, but most follow the traditional recipe of sun, soil and water.

Most people, I would suspect stay in the religion that they are born into. Some may become disillusioned with or conflicted with the dogma of one and choose another. Others who are brought into the fold from the outside, probably do so out of the feeling of solace they get from finally discovering a framework to tend to their abandoned or neglected spirit. Christianity, in particular, is big on evangelization, so this is a pretty reliable and visible channel for getting converts through the door.

My personal experience was growing up a fairly well indoctrinated and true believing (and rule following) Catholic. In college, I experienced two things that caused me to leave: 1) a crushing existential crisis, and 2) conflict with the church’s dogma that I could not resolve. So, I left. Ever since, I have sorely missed the social ritual aspect of going to church, and even now I feel good walking into churches, but I still can’t do the dogma of a Catholic church, and I know too much now about world religions to really submit to a Christian faith.

Despite all that, I’m glad I haven’t “thrown the bathwater out with the baby.” I think it’s shortsighted to not believe in/feel a spirit presence or life force or what have you, and at this point I’d like to find some kind of practice (that isn’t fear-based) to tend to it.

I’m a Christian because I want to believe there is something better after we die and while we’re living. I also believe in God because he has helped me, my family, and everyone I care about so much in different ways. Also my family is a split religion. My mom is an Episcopalian, my grandma and aunt are Christian Scientists, my brothers an athiest and I have no set group just yet. I know I believe in God, but I don’t find him with certain groups or even around people. I find him by myself.

I was raised Catholic. For a while, this is why I believed what I did. Now, I feel I have a more educated, independent stance on my beliefs, because I’ve grown up and gotten a mind of my own. I can see things objectively. I have come to find a lot of issues with the Catholic Church, absurdities that I really can’t stand behind. I attend a Catholic Jesuit University, but I feel I can get a lot more out of my school than Catholicism. Jesuit values and practices are something worth striving after. I still attend mass with my family, because I feel a spiritual benefit from mostly the Biblical interaction, not so much the “transsubstantiation ritual.” I still think the Bible is a wonderful book, though I’m uncertain if I even consider myself Christian anymore, or simply theist. These are the things you need to figure out at the ripe age of 19 :D

I also was raised Catholic, as was my husband. When we met neither of us was practicing. He was still searching, I wasn’t really. But I had survived a traffic accident invwhich my mother died, as did I. They were able to bring me back to life. That made me interested in renewing my faith. We began looking for a Non-Catholic Christian church. We did eventually find one, and we were both rebaptized as adults in order to make a public confession of Faith.

I was first a Christian because I was raised that way. Then I began to question things and went very much into the metaphysical and New Age spirtuality and studied astrology and read everything I could about other belief systems for about 12 years. Then I came back to Christianity because when I was broken and in the pit, it was Jesus that changed my life and opened my eyes and breathed life back into my broken spirit. He has healed me of much and for this I am forever grateful.

I was a Christian because I didn’t have anything else to be.

Low self esteem.

I was baptized as a baby, but when I was old enough to think about it, I really became a true Christian because I believe God is our Creator.