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The Essence of Christianity
I am going to make a rash statement and say
that approximately 98% of western Christians either do not resemble
Christ or are not striving in their own lives to be as Christ-like as
possible. Looking around in my own life it is blindingly obvious that
most religious people are fixated with mundane and materialistic
matters, and that they do not understand the concept of “giving
the other cheek”. However, if this is true, it does not mean that
we are all terrible Christians.
It does reveal, however, a very important point about the nature of
Christianity today. If we see a Christian acting selfishly we say to
ourselves “he is not a very good Christian”, all the while
making the assumption that he is actually a Christian. Let us say that
we still regard him as a Christian (as he himself says he is), what
separates him from “heathen unbelievers” is his beliefs,
his theology, and his worldview. So, therefore, this means that
becoming a Christian means taking on a set of beliefs or religious
maxims, and then after that a change of character is an unnecessary
recommendation. So the <span
style="font-style:italic;">essence</span> of Christianity
becomes the maxims that he holds so dear, it is what separates him from
everybody else.
This way of thinking contrasts sharply with Christ and his Jewish
followers. I have mentioned this before, but Jesus did not teach any
addition to the Judaic religion. He did not come to “over throw
the law”. His addition was both an ethical and spiritual one, and
accordingly to become a follower of Christ meant one had to live this
addition. He did not create disciples of a new religion, a new
theology, or a new philosophy; he created disciples of a new existence.
He gave them radical discipleship, by making them give up their
temporality for life eternal. They were still entirely Jews.
The only verbal ‘addition’ that Christianity makes is this,
that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, this statement was never meant to be
rational, intellectual, or something that is comprehended by our head.
It is entirely outside the realm of reason. After the disciples changed
their existence into this ‘new man’, after they had
literally given all in order to follow Christ, only then were they able
to exclaim “Jesus Christ is Lord!” This statement is meant
to come from the heart, not from the head. It comes from experience,
conviction, and existential evidence (being changed from a sinner to a
saint, for example). It was never meant to be made into a dogmatic
statement or something that was proclaimed as intellectually true. It
was especially reserved for those who had died to their self, it was
essentially gained existentially.
Therefore, the difference between the rest of the world from Christians
is entirely existential. It is not theological or philosophical, as
Christianity itself today explains. It is not a change of belief but a
change of lifestyle and a spiritual rebirth. The Christians are those
who live like Christ, not those who believe on Christ. With that said,
it has been pointed out that Jesus says numerous times in the gospel of
John that “if you believe on me you will be saved”. But it
must be understood that to believe in Christ meant back then to accept
all of his teachings and commandments, which were existentially very
radical. “Believing on Christ” was never understood to mean
an intellectual confession of Jesus Christ as Savior until recently.
The existential Christian can learn from this principle many extremely
important truths, and I will point out a brief two right now. Firstly,
we must have tolerance for those with different doctrinal, theological,
and philosophical beliefs. The Bible not only teaches this, but it is
implied by it (since Christianity was existential, beliefs entered
nowhere into the Christian/nonChristian equation). We MUST be objective
to ourselves but subjective to others.
Secondly, Christianity transcends our beliefs. Jesus expressed this
with his parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The Godly
individual in this story is not the Jewish Priest, but the heathen
Samaritan. Nowhere did the Samaritan convert to Judaism after helping
the man, and this was Jesus point. The Samaritan existentially
expressed Christianity, even if he did not have correct beliefs. Being
a Christian is in no way dependent on what theology or philosophy we
hold. Please also be aware, I am not advocating religious pluralism
here, Jesus Christ is the only true way. But I believe Christ’s
way to God is not attained through dogma or theology, but existence
itself.
-- By Timothy Neal
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