Real Christian or not?

Question

Whenever a christian does something publicly that is bad,nasty,horrible etc.Other christians first defence of their faith is to say.
"He/She isn't REALLY a christian"
Yes they are and no amount of denying can ever change that fact.
A prime example is Adolph Hitler.
Monster - Yes
Tyrant - Yes
Murderer - Yes
Christian - Yes
Can you not accept that some christians are not all sweetness and light?

Answer 1

I think what they are forgetting is that a Christian is one who has accepted Jesus as the Christ, but this is not saying that they will remain "sinless." Humans "sin." Even Christians. If they believe in Jesus, they will still "sin." So they are still "true Christians," even if they sin. So says the Christian doctrine.

Answer 2

Dude alI can say is this.. it's an old saying "If you were charged of being a Christians, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"
I can TELL you I am an Olympic gold medalist sprinter, BUT if I weigh 437 lbs, smoke 3 packs a day while I swig back a 24 pack, and inhaled a twinkie every 5 minutes, would you believe me?
Common sense is that people can make a claim to anything, but if there's no evidence to validate it OR evidence that goes directly against it, that claim is null and void. This isn't limited to Christians...
There's certain traits that should be evident as a Christian, love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith... Those are called the"Fruit of the Spirit." If they aren't evident, the very least we can say about that person is that they "aren't following God's word".... can we say they aren't a Christian... it's telling, if a person's behavior is anti-Christ... but I never judge if a person is or isn't a Christian, that's not my job. I can make an assessment, though.
I can go shoot up an abortion clinic, then say it was because of God, and have no relationship with God , in fact I could think God isn't even REAL. What better way to make God and Christians look bad? It's a ploy of Satan. The mere claim to God alone means nothing.

Answer 3

The problem is in the open definition of "Christian." To follow Christ, would be one definition of Christian. However, another might be someone who attends a Christian Church. Few Christian religions bar people (any people) from their congregations.
Indeed, Christians, by some thinking MUST be sinners. They come to Christ to "repent" of their sins.
But when someone is "converted" to Christ, they try to give up their sins, and follow in the footsteps of Christ. To some, it is only when they've given their sins away do they become "REAL" Christians.
My take is, we are all sinners. A Christian is someone who is trying, and probably failing, to follow the commandments of God, as Jesus Christ did. According to that definition, Hitler was a Christian.
Let Christ judge just how good (or how real) a Christian he may be. But you can judge by his acts how good a Christian you think he was. I haven't met a Christian yet that didn't feel they still carry sins around with them. But most Christians I've met have gone a long way toward repenting--and that is about all we can hope for.

Answer 4

Of course not all Christians are sweetness and light, but that doesn't mean that every evil person claiming to be a Christian actually is one. Especially if that person is a politician - would it be any surprise if a politician in a Christian nation made himself sound more Christian than he perhaps was? Hitler seems to have been about as Christian as Thomas Jefferson - both consciously edited the religion in order to distill from it the parts they liked.

The label "Christian" is an interesting one. We apply it to more people for sociological ease than would receive that same label on theological grounds. Karl Barth, by most accounts the greatest theologian of the 20th century, called his magnum opus the Church Dogmatics. He eschewed the title "Christian" because he did not want to assume that his theology was worthy of the name. I call myself a Christian to make conversations about religion easier, but I tremble to presume that I actually am any good at following Christ.

Answer 5

The only definition of a Christian is a person that believes that Jesus of Nazareth was (is) the Christ and therefor the Son of God. What makes some one a *real* or *true* or good Christian is endlessly debatable and unanswerable. If that was something people could agree upon there would only need to be one Christian Church.

Answer 6

Being Christian does not make you perfect! That is just our religious belief. There are good and bad everything from every religion. I doubt that anyone can deny there are bad Christians, the same way there are bad pastors, priests, and even atheist...

but there are also a lot of good Christians that although they aren't perfect they try to live life with the highest standard, of Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

Being "a Christian" and living "a Christian life" are not the same. It seems unfair to Christians who do practice the peace, love and kindness of the Bible to assume that because an evil person claimed to be a Christian or usurped certain beliefs, scriptures or teachings for their own immoral, unethical or selfish purposes.

of course, this would be true of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and all others as well.

A "real Christian", I suppose, is determined by right conduct, not by simply claiming it.

Answer 8

Dear Friend,

Christians follow the example of Jesus, who was made perfect in live and forgiveness. Jesus himself said:

John 13:34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

If you are not following these teachings, you can not be a Christian. If i said I was a King, would i be a king? No! In the same way this man was not a Christian.

God Bless

Answer 9

Can you accept the fact that simply saying you are something doesn't make it so?

For instance just because 99% of scientist say that the universe and everything in it was caused by a big bang at some starting point in time based on their observations of an expanding universe when they have been looking at the stars with their telescopes for less than a blink in the eye of the age of the universe does not make it so.

It's kind of like watching a sleeping turtle for a milisecond and determining that its dead because it hasn't moved.

Answer 10

A Christain is a person who is "BAPTIZED" in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.

"Do the healthy need a physician? No I say to you, I came to heal the sick, and not the well" . Another teaching of Jesus is that "Can the foot say to the eye that it is not part of the body? No I tell you it cannot separate from the body. Is the foot more valuable than the eye? No, I tell you, they are all created by God to function" . So, Yes, I agree that NOT ALL Christains are Sweet.

Was Hitler mentally sick (Jesus' Day Demonized)? Absolutely
Was Hilter for Social Darwinism? Absolutely.

Was Hilter's actions and deeds conforming to Christianity? No, he did not ACT like his HEART was transformed by the love of Christ. But this doesn' t mean that Christ abandoned him; but rather Christ was working overtime in people around Hitler to "Cast out Demons".

Are we a "Nazi Globalized" World? NO, Chirst won with the help of many other Jewish, Christains, Native American's, Buddhists, & a few Muslim soliders through out Britian, USA, and Greece (plus the others, but IDR them all).

Should Christains pray for the salvation of Hitler? Absolutely. Should we follow Jesus, then we must pray for all the body parts to be cleaned, restored, and transformed by Christ himself. We should be praying for everyone to be transformed into His Will.