What If Christians Were More Like Christ?

Would it make any difference in the world? If Christians were somehow more able to emulate Jesus, and follow his teachings, would there be less hate, and more love in the world? We have failed as Christians, I believe to follow the example of the one we profess to follow, and as a result, should expect nothing less than what we have sown in this world. All too many times we use excuses, and the old i am trying, yet in almost 2000 years there have been very few examples of Christlike behaviour on this earth, and some examples of Christlike behaviour from people who were not even Christians. It's all very confusing, and we should expect nothing less than mistrust, nonbelief, and even hate from those we should love so much, our fellow man, our neighbor.

Perhap's in time, we will come to know this, as a religion, and as a people, though the sign's would be, that sadly this will never come to pass, and according to our belief's it never will, as most believe that hate will increase, and thing's will get worse, for that is what we are taught. Still, one wonder's if even one true example of a christlike christian, who could come within living up to say 75% of what Jesus lived, and taught, took place in this modern world, if anyone would even notice. The hope is always there, but, reality tend's to make cynic's of us all, although one can draw some solace, from the fact, that at least in all of mankind's history, one human being lived up to that great ideal, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mankind will either cease to exist, move on to other planet's and star systems, continue to evolve, or possibly even, simply move to another consciousness, only time will tell, what our fate will be, depending on what you believe. As for me, I will choose my own path, as will other's like me, for until we truly discover for ourselves that we are all human being's, not one different than any other, and neighbor's on this planet on which we exist, we will remain doomed to repeat that which we have done for centuries, and that my friend's is truly, the saddest fate of all......

reply to post by freetree64


Well no Christian will truly become what Jesus Christ was because 1) He was a divine being 2) A lot of his teachings may have been lost over the course of history 3) There is lots of speculation that he told his disciples a lot of things that he never meant for ordinary people to know. Basically, we can never be like Jesus because we can't fully comprehend him.

If anyone was to become like Jesus Christ, it would be a non-religious person, because Jesus was not considered religious; in fact, one can recall Jesus constantly rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees and Priests.

All too many times we use excuses, and the old i am trying, yet in almost 2000 years there have been very few examples of Christlike behaviour on this earth, and some examples of Christlike behaviour from people who were not even Christians.

What you say here is like what I am saying, that the path to being like Christ is not in religion. To be like Jesus, one would have to have a direct relationship with God in a way similar to Jesus's relationship with God. And that means we have to understand what God is, and understand the abilities and powers that Jesus had.

Would it make any difference in the world? YES. I think would be less ignorance in the world, and more thoughtfulness towards others. Would there be less hate, more love... Doubt it. Jesus came to Earth professing love, but regardless of what he taught, he can't destroy the human emotion of hate. In fact, Jesus triggered a lot of hate, against himself and against his disciples.

If Christians were more like Jesus, I believe it would be a better world.

I do not believe Jesus would advocate hatred for fellow man, no matter what he does with his life. This always bothers the living heck out of me. So hypocritical.

Truly, if people were more accepting and compassionate, the world would be better. Christians could learn a lot about this too. Wasn't that supposedly what Jesus taught?

Heck, if there was a religion based on doing good and being compassionate for fellow man, not hating because some supreme being in the sky "told" them to do it, I would be all for it!

Heck, if there was a religion based on doing good and being compassionate for fellow man, not hating because some supreme being in the sky "told" them to do it, I would be all for it!

You could be Epicurean. It's not so much a religion as it is a life philosophy.

"Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia) as well as absence of bodily pain (aponia) through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires. The combination of these two states is supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form."

"In the Epicurean view, the highest pleasure (tranquility and freedom from fear) was obtained by knowledge, friendship and living a virtuous and temperate life. He lauded the enjoyment of simple pleasures, by which he meant abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites,"

I'm simply going to respond to the question that is your thread-title, OP -- 'What if Christians were More Like Christ '?

I'm not sure what it would be like, to be honest

There's no doubting that the teachings of Christ are sound and make for a good person

' Don't steal'

'Don't lie '

'Don't lust for what others have / give thanks for what you have'

' Forgive those who transgress against you in teh same way you expect God to forgive your transgressions '

etc.

It's all quality advice

Christ understood. He was humble. He was warm towards others. He constantly strove to improve communication between Himself and others and between people generally. He advocated putting ourselves in another's place in order to undestand and be less judgemental. He taught that we're all brothers and sisters under the skin. He strove to remove barriers and promote brotherhood, understanding, acceptance, warmth/love towards each other

Actually, I believe most people are like Christ a lot of the time. Most people are good, underneath the protective shells they build around themselves. And this is borne out every single day, every hour, around the world -- people risking their own safety to try to help others. People giving to others. People standing up for others, offering a shoulder to cry on even when they have worse problems themselves

It wasn't easy, being Christ

and it's not easy being Christ-like. It requires us to conquer our ego, our jealousies, our insecurities and often our sense of self-preservation. It requires us to take a boot in the face over and over again but not to whine about it or retaliate. That's not easy

Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of people are more 'good' than they are 'bad'

Considering the circumstances, that's impressive --- particularly when you take into account that Christ KNEW he was the Son of God and KNEW his earthly fate, KNEW where he came from and where he was going and KNEW he wouldn't have to survive 80 or so years on this planet

Compare that with humans, who have to take it all on trust --- and have to survive into their 8th and 9th decades without a group of diciples to help them, without extraordinary 'water to wine' type gifts

They wouldn't have a religion, they would have a way of life.

The original gnostic thinking of how Jesus lived surely seems more like a Judaism version of the Buddhist way of life. To me Buddhism is NOT a religion but a philosophy that maintains one life(as God isn't a supreme overload but is infact oneself).

If Christianity was as Jesus lived then I am sure that our world would be better today and much better educated and well off.

We are ALL sons and daughters of God. Jesus said it himself, and it is also written in Psalms.

Jesus was only the first to reach the state of perfection. He set a PATTERN for us to follow, but sadly, nobody seems to do so.

If "Christians" actually did follow the pattern, then the Catholic Church would not have all the power they have today, and the world would be full of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, WISDOM, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, SELF-CONTROL, ACCEPTANCE, and NON-JUDGEMENT.

reply to post by freetree64


Excellent post. I'm not a Christian but that doesn't stop me from admiring Jesus as a great philosopher. I believe that the entire purpose of his ministry was actually to get people to recognize themselves as sons and daughters of God and to essentially become their own Messiah. He set an example of how through love, kindness and selflessness you could essentially save yourself from the darkness of the world.

And what would a world full of selfless decent individuals be like? Why it might resemble a heavenly kingdom

However, in modern Christianity being Christ-like gets pushed to the back burner to focus on unsubstantiated supernatural elements of the story. I feel that such supernatural elements take away from the truly profound elements of Jesus's teachings.

When Christ left us he told us this world is ruled by the dark side. He wasn't lying. Sucks, right?

reply to post by freetree64


I have to disagree with you to some extent. Almost every day of my life I experience Christ like behavior.

On a semi related topic. At age 16 I fell in love with the movie fight club because of the message. Completely giving every thing up, and total loss of hope, and just knowing everything every thing begins and ends, and its npt worth waiting your life on greed that only bring you more suffering.

reply to post by freetree64


The Bible states that we'd actually be hated because of His sake. So I would think, spiritually speaking, that the more Christ like we are, the more 'the world' would hate us.

Christianity has some blots on its history and even some in modern times but a lot of the Christian societies were extremely Christ like... and they were put to death.

Even when we look at 'Christian on Christian' violence, it pretty much consisted of the frauds persecuting true followers of Christ.

Then if we want to look at it from a secular angle without the spiritual answer, I'd still say so. Even if we were perfect little saints running around and never committed sin, I'd still believe the governments of the world would see us as a threat. A Christ like Christian would have their hearts in heaven, so to speak, and not for the state. This is why so many in history were killed for their beliefs.

They refused to be frauds and be allowed to live in order to bow to the state and forsake Jesus.

Just my thoughts on it.

reply to post by AshleyD


Nice to read something a Mod says that doesn't irritate me ;-).

Well stated. In the Bible it consistently warns of this. life sucks, but why care when you have God? Some times it's a platform for control ie crusades, but that's the serpent.

on the other hand we have this:
www.hulu.com...

If Christians were more like Jesus we would be extinct by now. The same thing that happened to Jesus would happen to us. People would see Christians are weak, so invasions would start from Islam.

That's just what I think

reply to post by Equinox99


Err do you know anything about the 6 point star? King David? Genocide happens no matter what your are, but being Christ like isn't being a pansy. You do understand the whole idea that Christ was SUPPOSE TO DIE. I would highly suggest the movie Kingdom of Heaven to you.

If Christians walked a life very similar (we have sin, Jesus did not) to Jesus, we would have constant war with the Pharisees of our time. Much more of the world would be saved, and a clearer picture of darkness vs light would emerge. The prosperous parts of the world would be Christian. The cesspools of the world would be the unsaved. We as Christians believe in God's ability to grant us the pursuit of happiness, and would develop God fearing nations to live in, even if we had to to take it by force (by the sword) like David did. From there we would send missionaries to spread God's word to the dark places, only to return to our only true home "Heaven," by being martyred by those that will always prefer darkness over light.

This conjecture is not important to me, because what is taking place now, is exactly where the old-time prophets wanted to be. "The END TIMES!" Christians should get their head out of the sand, eyes unglued from the rear-view mirror, and their body moving in the same direction as the Holy Spirit in them is! If you don't understand read Ephesians 4:11-16. This is some of the end time scriptures given to the soon-to-be "bride of Christ." He is coming for those that are "Christ-like" and have on clean apparel. He will rapture those before the coming tribulation. If you do not have eyes to see or ears to hear what is about to happen, I would make sure you have a personal relationship with Him. If you believe in the "feel so good" preaching the Christian church is speaking, you are very misguided. Very few teach what Jesus taught to his disciples. Many Christians (Pharisees), are father from heaven than the unsaved!

[edit on 03/16/2010 by john spartan]

On my previous post I meant to write "Romans" instead of Pharisees in my first sentence.

God Bless to all that read my posting.

reply to post by freetree64


It would be wonderful, but not achievable.

If people were kind, loving and sharing, it would go a long way towards what Christ taught.

But the world is war is programmed for war and annihilation and always has been.

So I don't see any way to do this, except try and follow these principles towards those you are in contact with.

If all Christians were Christ-like, there would be another war against Islam and possibly other world religions because of a clash in ideals.

Most likely. However, then they'd have to follow the "Live and let live" commandment of Christ. I don't think they'll ever be willing to do that.

Even if they did, you'd still have to deal with the Muslims. Choose your poison.

Originally posted by Wang Tang
If all Christians were Christ-like, there would be another war against Islam and possibly other world religions because of a clash in ideals.

Dude!! That's already happening!! What do you think this "war on terrorism" crappolla is really all about? It's strictly centered around religion. Come on!! Certainly you realize that much.

[edit on 30-3-2010 by SpeakerofTruth]