This post is in response to a friend of mine who posted on the same topic a couple of days ago.
Original: You Like Jesus, but not the Church?
I once heard that Gandhi said "I like your Christ, but not your Christians."
How do Christians respond to this quote?
Here's how not to respond:
1. Get all mad at Gandhi, call him a crazy, eastern, "new age," yoga man, dismiss not only his comment but also his roll in history politically and spiritually, tell everyone this opinion, continue on not being like Christ and not being liked by the majority of non-Christians around you, start a "good old fashioned Gandhi bashing" small group at church.
2. Jump completely on Gandhi's wagon, say "to hell with the church," leave and start a group half Christian (so-to-speak) and half Gandhian that meets on Sunday morning but at a tranquil yoga studio, abandon the word "religious" for the word "spiritual" and give it a definition that serves no purpose other than to make yourself sound smart and "postmodern."
(please note the sarcasm)
But how should we respond? How do we deal with this issue. On one hand Christians are supposed to be like Christ. On the other them not being like Christ is likely why they are Christians. Where's the middle ground, if there is one? The response to this quote is not as simple as it may seem. It is as complicated as discovering how the church as an organism works. The answer may more aptly be put in the form of a question? What is the church? What should it be? What should it look like? How should it function?
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4 comments:
Did Mahatma Gandhi sleep with virgins?
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040813.html
(warning, thier is a sketch of gandhi laying on a bed with some naked women that might be offensive to some. It's not that graphic or anything/only shows butts.)
The gist of the link anyway is that Gandhi actually would sleep naked with naked young women but not have sex with them because he wanted to show how much controll he had over his sexual desires.
Based on that alone, I don't think I take what gandhi has to say that seriously... maybe I need to read more about what he did because I don't know much about it.... but he was a little odd.
Gandhi was a little odd but he did increadible things for India, basically gaining her freedom from England.
I think he did sleep with virgins, to my knowledge, to test his self control. That's a little crazy but I think he did it. I try to look past all the crazy stuff cause I know I've done crazy stuff too.
Even if Gandhi's credibility is marred by the virgin thing his comment as a stand alone is still powerful. It's powerful because it's true of many people who are outside the church. So how do we answer to this comment.
The term "Christians" is so broad today. You can call the Catholic Prieset that sexually assaulted altar boys a Christian and you can call the thousands of Chinese people sneaking around to underground church meetings Christians as well. I think Gandhi was mostly referring to the type of Christian that is the former. The type of person that calls themselves a Christian but are blatent hypocrits. (I'm not saying that A) All Catholic priests are hypocrits and the ones that did are not forgiven, and B) that all of us dont act like hypocrits at times as well). Gandhi was making a point on how the spectrum of Christianity is so large. That God accepts everyone if they ask for forgiveness and that people who do not dedicate their whole being to God, even though you should, are called Chirstians. Gandhi understood how great a man Jesus was. I dont think he could understand how someone could call themselves a Christian and not fully devote themselves to what that truly means, since he thought he could devote himself totally. For as smart and great a man Gandhi was, I believe he was not humble at times.
Ben, good to hear from you. Didn't know you were frequenting our blog that much though I haven't looked at these posts in a while. You are right about the point Gandhi is making. He is trying to say that most Christians are not much like Chirst, yet they hold his title over themselves. I just love the way he phrases it.
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