Lonely_Road_Of_Faith

Hmmmmmm, now there's a question. I'd have to say I know some that do, and a great majority that simply profess to follow it all, but then do nothing.

Nowadays it seems like (at least in the USA, I really don't know that much about the day-to-day matters of Christianity in most other countries) the important thing is what you believe. As long as you believe the right things...it doesn't matter if you do them. Is it just me, or it this the complete and total opposite of what Jesus actually said?? It seems to me that Jesus had issues with people who didn't practice what they preach. Unfortunately, from what I can see, a lot of Christians do exactly that.

Jamie_L

Well, that's the age-old debate, isn't it?

Works? Faith? Faith and Works? Grace alone? What's important? What gets you into heaven? The Bible pretty much says "all of the above", despite the fact that they contradict each other.

I'm much more tolerant of "decent people" who fudge on following their faith literally than people who try to stick closely to the written teachings of their religion at the expense of being good people.

Jamie

DMB

I have often thought that if xians seriously believed in the Jesus message, then there would be no rich ones. Look around at all these camels trying to pass through the eyes of needles (or perhaps not even trying, but just convinced that they will get through). And yet Jesus is reported to have told the rich young man to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.

In all directions, there are even xians praying to their god for material success. I'm sure they can find some sort of justification in the OT, but the NT message is quite different.

Jamie_L

On a similar note, have you noticed that the so-called "Fundamentalist Christians" seem to focus so much on the deatils of the Old Testament, but not so much on the literal interpretations of Jesus' message in the New Testament.

The message of "abandon worldliness, submit to injustice, love your enemies as you love your friends, seek not to avoid the sufferings of this world" just doesn't sell very well, I guess. But people can get behind good old-fashioned vengeful authoritarianism.

I mean, really, don't you think Jesus would go to the house of an abortion-clinic worker who spent all day dodging screaming protesters, and give her a foot message (though he might curse her crab-apple tree on the way in)? And if congress banned prayer in all schools, private or public, don't you think he'd just shrug his shoulders and go into his closet to pray? Heck, do you think Jesus would vote at all? And can anyone deny that Jesus is a communist at heart?

Jamie

TheYellowDart

There are many xians who talk the talk but do not walk the walk. It is a failure of discipliship within the Church that needs to be addressed. Xian's certainly needed to be careful about practicing what you preach; at the same time, no xian will tell you that he is perfect (if he does, he's not a xian). Now, the thing with hypocricy and Jesus: while Jesus does not want anyone to be a hypocrite, he is especially angry at the pharaseas becasue of their position in the Church. They were the leaders of the Church, those who taught, and they were decieving, lying, and being hypocritical. False teachers are taken very seriously in the Bible and these were false teachers.
As for the rich xian thing; there is a school of thought within the xian Church like yours ( ). It is a hotly debated topic, and you could certainly make that arguement. There is a book "Rich Christians in the Age of Hunger" that deals with this (I forget the authors name, however). It's tough for the Church to actually enphasis this area however, because of the rise of TV pastors asking for more and more money for doing false miracles. So, people are wary of giving a lot of their money to Churches and stuff like that.

JohNeo

Maybe it's time for xians to devise the "Third Testament" or the "Post-modern Testament." That would give them plenty of journalistic latitude to justify becoming wealthy, tax breaks, faith-based intiatives, prayer in public schools, banning birth control & stem-cell research etc.

They could include 9/11 as an historic event in which god revealed himself to give the green light for xians to take back the world. And maybe this time they could have professional proofreaders make sure it is consistent and free of contradictions.

I can see the gospel from the new prophet (a fictitious preacher who died 80 years ago), as interpreted by Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart and Jessie Helms:

"Whereas before you were commanded to love God with thy whole heart, soul, mind and body, verily I say unto thee, thou shalt love MY God with thy whole heart, soul, mind and body. Whereas before you were commanded to love thy neighbor as thyself, verily I say unto thee, thou shalt love thy neighbor as long as that neighbor calls himself Christian, for what shall it profit a man to believe anything other than what I tell you?"

JohNeo

Garnet

As some other posters in this thread have touched upon, there isn't a simple answer to that question. Particularly from an atheist. :devil3:

I'm not being snarky here, but I don't see where many demoninations of Christians even agree on what the teachings of Jesus are, let alone follow them. Some of the most vile and insulting arguments I've ever seen have been between Christians of different denominations about what the Bible says, with each side backing up their positions with Biblical quotations.

bfair2all

What is "walking the walk"?

1. Some christians say "I accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior". And that is all that is required to "walk the walk".

2. Some christians say "I try to live my life according to the teachings of the church".

3. Some christians say "I try to live my life according to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles in the New Testament".

4. Some christians say "I try to live my life as Jesus lived his".

Which is "walking the walk"? Or is it something I haven't listed?

Bright Life

Okay folks, this thread has been merged, duplicate posts have been removed, and OT posts have been split out. Whew. Carry on.

Bright Life
GRD Moderator

Asha'man

I'd have to say absolutely not. The blatant hypocrisy I saw in church was one of the first reasons I began to question my faith.