pierneef

I am inspired by those sentiments. Clearly they represent the kind of world that we should all be working for. My problem is that while it annunciates these principles, the Church in so many of its manifestations supports a way of life which is totally opposite, and many of those who are in charge of the nation's affairs and call themselves Christians, are leading the charge for hate and greed. I dont see much link between Jesus' teachings and modern Christianity, other than exceptional examples, such as the Catholic Church in many poor Latin-American countries, Bishop Tutu, Mother Theresa, etc. So, I am always suspicious of someone who claims to be a "Christian" because so often their lives and values are a sacrilege and offensive to what Jesus taught.

Eric H

Hello pierneef,

I agree with you, but there are churches were people are genuinely encouraged to be of service and contribute back to the community.

You rarely hear about these peoples contributions. they just seem to beaver away voluntarily and quietly doing little things for the less able and less fortunate week after week, year after year.

Within these churches you will also see people who seem to have different ideas of what it is to be Christian

I think if you were to search for the perfect church full of perfect people with the same motives as Christ, you would possibly fail to find it.

Possibly if we have a need to believe in Christ, we have to do it despite all the apparent contradictions that exist within his church today.

There is also the need to be honest with ourselves, maybe I am not in a good position to judge others.

peace

Eric