Are today's Christians what Christ intended?

[IrishGuy070890]

I think that the church and Christians are far from what Christ intended.

[GrannieAnnie]

I guess all we can do is our best.....and our best will never be good enough and Jesus knew that.....that's why Jesus gave us the GIFT of Himself....we can't earn salvation because....we're not and never be what Christ intended.....

[staveoffzombies]

Considering what I see from most Christians, I'd say a loud emphatic "NO"

[DeanM]

Here's an interesting thought...


"Where we are going to run into trouble is with the leaders of organized religion. They have made a career out driving wedges between their beliefs, and the beliefs of others. For example, looks at Jews and Christians. These are two distinct religions, but yet Jesus was a Jew, and his Father was God. This is the same God for both religions. Nobody disputes that, but here we are with two different ways to worship the same God. The religious leaders all know that there is only one God, but they would run out of money very quickly if their believers found out about it."


This is specifically addressing the differences between Judaism and Christianity, but the inference is pretty clear. I think God would wish that we could all unite and agree on the fundamentals of our faiths.

quote taken from "Lunch With God" by Steve Hershey

[New_Wineskin]

I think that the church and Christians are far from what Christ intended.

I don't .

[holo]

I guess all we can do is our best...You can do something even better than that. You can stop trying and start trusting. Let Jesus do what Jesus does best instead of trying to do it yoruself.

It's not about doing something FOR Christ, it's about HIM expressing himself through you.

You don't live FOR Christ, you live IN Christ.

[7angel]

It is not this what Christ wishes ?

GrannieAnnie
Be gentle with yourself and with others, and take the straight and narrow road towards JESUS

[Nurbz]

Well considering how christianity has been corrupt and brutal, used as a weapon by twisted religious leaders since the original churches creation by constantine (who by the way murdered the leader of the western roman empire, his wife, and young children after defeating him), through the middle ages under the cruel catholic church at the time, puritanical dictatorships, justification of slavery, and 'manifest destiny' to slaughter American natives in the early days of our country....

I'd say we're more like Christ wanted now than at any point in the Faith's history. We still have some hurdles to overcome, but we're getting there... though corrupt political baptists, evangelicals, and catholics seem to want to hold us back with their spewing of hatred and attempt to control us with force of government.

[garfieldthecatman]

"All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God."

Do you think that Jesus said this to dicourage us? NO! Should this be our excuse evertime we mess up? NO! Here's the thing, it's not our place to judge if the Christians of this generation are what God wants. In fact it is. The thing is, God never changes. So he needs us to change for him. We are to spread the word to a world that is everday sinking deeper into darkness. The world is never the same and if Christians were the same as they were when the Church first started, then we wouldn't be around.

[Elife3]

Sadly, for most of them, no. Apostasty is so common today that the majority is wrong. But, we are to strive to enter through the narrow gate anyway.

[garfieldthecatman]

Apostasty?

[stone]

Look at this:

Matthew 24:1-3 1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

***

They ask J-sus what will be the sign of the end of this world?


He answers:

Matthew 24:4-31

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25 Behold, I have told you before.

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.


***

He already knows how we all are and will be tomorrow.

[ralangley]

Well considering how christianity has been corrupt and brutal, used as a weapon by twisted religious leaders since the original churches creation by constantine (who by the way murdered the leader of the western roman empire, his wife, and young children after defeating him), through the middle ages under the cruel catholic church at the time, puritanical dictatorships, justification of slavery, and 'manifest destiny' to slaughter American natives in the early days of our country....

I'd say we're more like Christ wanted now than at any point in the Faith's history. We still have some hurdles to overcome, but we're getting there... though corrupt political baptists, evangelicals, and catholics seem to want to hold us back with their spewing of hatred and attempt to control us with force of government.

Yes. DITTO!!!

[JAS4Yeshua]

I think there are many people who call themselves "Christian" aren't really following Christ or His teachings. They are too conformed to the pattern of this world and unwilling to listen to what Christ says in His Word. Those people will see Christ on the last days, and He will say to them "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you."

Do we want to hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter in" or "Depart from me?" No one can answer this but each individual person for themselves. Because it is going to be that person, alone, facing Christ on the last days.

Romans 12:1-3 NIV
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

[Cris413]

I think there are many people who call themselves "Christian" aren't really following Christ or His teachings. They are too conformed to the pattern of this world and unwilling to listen to what Christ says in His Word. Those people will see Christ on the last days, and He will say to them "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you."

Do we want to hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter in" or "Depart from me?" No one can answer this but each individual person for themselves. Because it is going to be that person, alone, facing Christ on the last days.

Romans 12:1-3 NIV
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Excellent post brother! Perfect Scripture. (but then again....isn't all Scripture ;) )

[Starcrystal]

Hmmm, reminds me of this cartoon I ran across the other day -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/elfinzone/l_8c9ef46031dd1b0a9ee8af27f7cb3a8d.gif

Maybe it should be slightly reworded to say "Please Jesus, protect me from those who claim to be your followers." True followers of Jesus wouldn't need to be protected from. :)

[garfieldthecatman]

All too true. I go to a huge church. I hear others that don't go only say bad things about it like, "They only want your money" or "those people are hypocrites." And I see there point, because there are alot of people that only go to church Sunday morning and don't practice what they are preached.

[notmyown123]

I dont think it is possible for us to be not EXACTLY like God created us. He knew the world would come to this long before he created it... Everything that was is and will be is exactly how God planned it

[Cris413]

He or she...who is without sin....cast the first stone...

[Cris413]

Or perhaps...while we're all busy pointing fingers at others...I dunno....maybe we should consider the beam in our own eye first....just a thought

[Cris413]

All...except you perfect Christians...of course

[staveoffzombies]

Modern Christianity is fast becoming a circus.

All I'm seeing coming out of the major Christian channels anymore is: "Stop the gays! Stop the EVIL Evolutionists! Stop everyone who doesn't agree with our morals and beliefs by legislating morality! ........oh yeah.......Jesus loves you"

It's ridiculous.

[Cris413]

I think there are many people who call themselves "Christian" aren't really following Christ or His teachings. They are too conformed to the pattern of this world and unwilling to listen to what Christ says in His Word. Those people will see Christ on the last days, and He will say to them "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you."

Do we want to hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter in" or "Depart from me?" No one can answer this but each individual person for themselves. Because it is going to be that person, alone, facing Christ on the last days.

Romans 12:1-3 NIV
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

I think the above post hit the nail on the head. Particularly the Scripture!

Personally....I think it doesn't really matter what I think...or what anyone else thinks.

What matters is what God thinks.

Each and every one of us should STOP pointing fingers at everyone else that doesn't live up to what we think should be the standard.

God's word is the only standard worth emulating and focusing our thoughts and hearts on.

If half of us spent as much time looking at our own lives and how we measure up to the word of God rather than holding up our measuring stick to everyone else...then perhaps there might not be so much of a problem with what's lacking in "christianity" today and we just might even find ourselves more useful in service to God.

[Mling]

While I certainly don't know every shift in general Christian culture, I can think of three major one's that took Christianity away from Christ.

The first was the official conversion of Rome to Christianity under Constantine. There, the idea was officially and permanently introduced into Christianity that this was not a personal religion that one adopts out of faith--it is a political club that one joins in order to be in the "right" crowd.

The second was the idea that Christianity is a collection of facts, and, in order to be a real Christian, one must know these facts. Facts like, that Christ is 100% God and 100% man, not 50/50 or 100/95; or that the Spirit flows from both the Father and the Son, or from just the Father.

The third is the modern assertion that the Kingdom of Heaven is "within you," meaning, in your own heart, as opposed to "among you," meaning, composed of those people who join. What I mean is, for today's Christianity, you don't have to help the poor, you don't have to feed the hungry or visit the lonely. It isn't necessary to do anything Christ said we should. It's enough to just believe that those things are good, and to pray that other people will do them. It's entirely your heart that matters.

Today's Christian may be accumulating millions of dollars by forcing Indian children to work 18-hour days. He may be putting all that money up his nose, beating his wife and traveling to Thailand 8 times a year to take advantage of child prostitutes.

In short, his life may unravel everything Christ would have sought to weave together and destroy everything Christ would have seen built up,

But so long as he affirms a certain creed and has a few beliefs, he may live this life in Christ's name. And so long as he votes a certain way, attends the right church and gives it enough money, the Christian community will likely accept him with open arms.

The commands of Christ entailed living a certain way and engaging society positively. Christianity has become anything to anybody.

[OldChurchGuy]

I think that the church and Christians are far from what Christ intended.

How so?

OldChurchGuy

[Stormy]

It appears that most of you think that Jesus is disapointed in the Christians of today.

I know that I have drawn closer to God, and have began to study the Bible each day. That and prayer is all that I can do.. the rest is up to Christ. I open myself to him.

[amadeus2]

I think that the church and Christians are far from what Christ intended.

What Christ intended was that people follow Him to the Father, that people strive to be like Him. Putting on the name 'Christian' does not make us like Him and does not bring us closer to the Father. What Jesus called the Church is nothing like what most people today call 'church'.

We should not assume that the followers of Christ today are all of those bearing the name, Christian. We should not assume that the Church that Jesus is building corresponds to what most people call 'church'.

[holo]

What Christ intended was that people follow Him to the Father, that people strive to be like Him.Actually, he intended that people REST in Him ans STOPPED trying to be good enough :)

[Eleknar]

I think there are three major problems with Christianity today.

1) Denominations. We don't need denominations. All we need is the Bible and God. We don't need all the man made laws and traditions, just a relationship with our King.

2) We don't do enough to bring non-believers to Christ. Evangelism is one of those things that all Christians are supposed to engage in and so many of us don't. I'm guilty of this as well.

3) The word "Religion". Too many people view Christianity as just another religion when in actually it's so much more. Christianity isn't about religion, it's about having a loving relationship with the Father.

[garfieldthecatman]

The word "Religion". Too many people view Christianity as just another religion when in actually it's so much more. Christianity isn't about religion, it's about having a loving relationship with the Father

I made a thread about this. It's one thing I hate most when I see people that call themselves "Christians." It's not our place to judge them, but that doesn't mean I can't tell them that they aren't doing it right. Paul did the same thing to Peter.

[calidog]

I think that the church and Christians are far from what Christ intended.But not far from what He predicted:

Mat 13:31 He put out another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;
Mat 13:32 which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.
Mat 13:33 He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.