Are most Christians missing the entire meaning of following Christ?

Question

I mean if you study History you will notice that the very first Christians did not live the best of lives. The were greatly hated by the Jews at first and then hated by the Roman Empire. They were tortured, killed, imprisoned, and at some times even denied the right to buy or sell. Still for 300 years of terrible living the Christians endured. Today when we were pertaking in the Lords Supper, Comminion, I thought of what it must have been like for the very first Christians when they pertook of the Lords Supper. They didn't have air condition buildings with cushy seats. They had no religious freedom. The fact that they were meeting together as Christians was a violation of Roman Law. Many were taken out of their Christian Communion and put in prison or thrown to the wild beast in the Arenas in the first 3 Centuries. I felt ashamed as a Christian. I am no way as faithful as those first Christians. It made me re-examine my life. Christians of today make the faith look horrible.

Answer 1

You are completely right. The American church is asleep. Although all around the planet millions of Christians are living like the first century church. They experiences persecution, being jailed, and even being killed. Jesus said the world will hate you because it first hated me and the Bible tells us that we will be persecuted. It makes you think are we really experiencing persecution and then since we really aren't is it because we are not enough like Christ that the world actually sees a difference. There is a book you should read called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clayborne. It will really challenge you and make you want to do something about the condition of the church in America. But you are right about the Church and it is up to the people who see that it is asleep to wake her up.

Answer 2

I am unable to understand the purport of your question. I hope you do not want to find fault with the Christians who lead a more comfortable life than their precursors. What is wrong in celebrating Communion on a lavish scale. Had it been open to thethen-Christians they w ould have done the same .Moreover as their understang developed the modern Christians appreciated that some rituals were symbolic anld give only symbolic importance to it.Human sacrifice may have been an accepted practice in Christianity at one time as is seen from the miraculous substbtution of the devotee's son a sheep. But that does not necessarily mean a sheep has ynecessarily to be sacrificed on the occasion and many do not do it. That is not for saving a few rupees but is dictated by consideration for animal life.The spread of scientific knowledge has shown that many things inthe Bible may be just ideas carried from generation to generation eg Creation. Now we know how the world was created entirely by physical forces and so it is discounted .The adherence to the exploded theory of creation despite this is not being a good Christian but far from it.If the Christians of today look with horror at some exploded religious beliegs they are not anti-Christ but rather disciples of Jesus in true spirit ofthe gospel.

I am not a Christian but a Hindu. We have travelled far afar from our ancient beliefs but still proudly call ourselves Hindus. We do not find anything amiss in our moder Christian brothers(and also sisters)In fact, we envy the earnestness with which they have been following Christ's message of giving succour to the needy.

Answer 3

You are right.Today things are so much more civilized.But that is progress.And You can't stop us from becoming a more civilized society.We are indeed lucky that we do not live as they once did.OR are we still? We still can't feed our own children,Crime is still on the rise .Robbery ,murder,wars ,bigots,hate killings, greed.The list goes on and on.No, we aren't going to get Fed to the lions or stoned to death.But we are still a persecuted people.We may not be tortured,killed or imprisoned now,but those days are still in front of us.God has even told us that.The times are getting worse as foretold by his second coming.They were a unlearned people back then.What is the excuse for us now?It is very good that you have thought this way and taken the steps to re-examine your life.God works in these ways sometimes to humble us.If you are feeling all of this imagine what Jesus must have felt and what he went through.Though life isn't as tough as it once was.Our religious freedom is still being threatened.You see it every day.It still isn't easy and never will be to be a Christian.We are tested everyday.But someday he will walk with us again and what a glorious day that will be my brother.Until then God Bless and never forget his promise.

Answer 4

the historic followers of Jesus and the Christians of today are not the same as you said . Today many Christians believe as much in crucifying as the Jews of old . formal religions based on perverted concepts of god have a habit of becoming powerful and power corrupts . Try living for goodness not for the god that was evolved by powers that be. Ask even if the exploitative view of Christ has obscured the truth of kindness what serves life not death , then study hard and learn what religions ignore . Christians are supposed to emulate Christ how do you perform a real miracle rise from the dead or do wonders greater than the Christ as it is written . I think there are traps put into the system to confuse and frustrate the people beat them down and take unfair advantage of them .
If their was a good god he would offer simple easy to understand means of kindness and a good life for everyone not just for some.
peace

Answer 5

Jesus was Jewish and expected his disciples to remain traditional. That didn't happen for one reason or another.

Jesus was a reformist Jew. He did not expect to have everything he knew cast aside, he expected to see a new way for Jews and Arabs and Romans to live.

You are right, of course, that didn't happen.

And, by the way, the Lord's Supper is a Jewish tradition known as the Seder Dinner.

It's done once a year for the last 5,700 years

It's done with unleavened flat bread you can break (breaking bread), 24 ounces of wine, a glass for the person not there, maybe some lamb, some burnt egg, some nasty tasting things similar to horse raddish or salsa or green onions in vingegar and you're supposed to purge the place of leavening.

Jesus expect us to incorporate him into that tradition.

Answer 6

there are many people out there that claim to be Christian, but know very little about what christ really did for them. they believe that God is good and will overlook their sins. This is what the majority of Christianity is. Not to say there are faithful Christians who do appreciate Christ, but you are right. The majority of Christians today do make the faith look bad. That's why the God fearing Christians must set out and change this, bring these people to realize they are in deep need of God.

Answer 7

Ask Jehovah´s witnesses they have esperienced been prosecuted in Germany, Spain and Now in France and Georgia not talk about muslims countries and more than 40 countries more the only sin , preach the good news of God´s kingdom and the annointed king Jesus Christ.
by the way you are cordially invited to "Follow the Christ!" is the theme of next annual Jehovah's Witness District Convention
"Follow the Christ!" is the theme of next annual Jehovah's Witness District Convention

Answer 8

While it is true that we are no longer being tempted by physical hardships; it is equally true that the temptations of the world are just as great if not greater. In our days, one cannot leave the house without being flooded by immorality, foul language, lying, etc.

If we are to follow Christ we must sacrifice things that are unholy, for the most part in ancient times, this consisted of living in comfort. Now it consists of separating yourself from the world. The truths and values embraced by Christians are mocked on every hand. And a real follower of Christ will sacrifice what is considered being popular for that. Unfortunately, as you alluded to, mainstream Christianity isn't cutting it.

Answer 9

I don't know about other Christians, but formyself, No!

Following Christ to me means to follow him rather than to lead a life of self-control and self-satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own destiny and to let him direct us. Christ knows better than we do what real life is about. Following Jesus means to deny oneself. To deny oneself means not only to surrender immediate material gratification, but also it is a willingness to let go of selfish desires and earthly security. This attitude turns self-centeredness to God-centeredness. The first thing that we are supposed to learn when we become Christians is that we are now "owned" by Jesus Christ." This is what we call, "Lordship." Even though we easily call Him Lord, is He really Lord of our entire lives?

Answer 10

I totally agree. It's like the first couple of verses in James. Now Christianity is like a fallback religion: people just say they're Christian because they think, "Hey, I'm sure not Muslim or Buddhist...I must be Christian!" It pains me.

And it's "partake," not "pertake." ;-)