a Christian is a Christian is a Christian?

Question

this lady comes here and says she is feeling drawn to the Catholic church
she is a non Christian and feeling an urge to persue what her heart is telling her
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmLusgAsbLXKqTe3pgtoyzlFLxV.;_ylv=3?qid=20071004113732AANHRTg

she is met with people telling her it is a cult , it is wrong etc
surely the fact that she is being drawn to Christianity is what matters no ?
shouldnt she be recieving good wishes and help from Christians ... any Christians
shouldnt you be rejoicing that someone is being drawn to Christ ?
or are you so closed minded to even your own faith that any church but your church is the wrong church ?

I just don't get it
personally as a non Christian I was encouraging her to follow her heart , even though it is not my religion at all

Answer 1

A Christian is someone who has chosen to believe that Jesus is The Son of God and that He died on The Cross, for their sins. They have asked Him into their heart, spirit, soul and life and choose to trust Him every day! They read His Word and trust The Holy Spirit to Lead and Guide them through the maze that makes up this life on earth! This is the simplest explanation I can think of!

There are many denominations it is true and each is full of people who 'pay lip service' (hatch/match/despatch) to being a Christian! Each is full of people who want the Blessings, without the 'spade work' that goes with it (not wanting to allow The Holy Spirit to Guide them in the things that they, as individuals, need to give up - what is a temptation to me, may not be a temptation to you and vice versa)! Each is full of people who want a real, vibrant relationship (and have it!) with their LORD and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

ONLY GOD CAN SEE INTO THE HEART AND KNOW HOW TRUE AN INDIVIDUAL'S BELIEF IN JESUS IS!

When we get to Heaven, there will be no 'ghettos', we will all live side by side, as one family! Which is why it is sad, when on earth one denomination accuses another one! NO one denomination has all the answers! NO one denomination gets everything right all of the time! Why? Because they are finite, humanity gets in the way continually - only God is Infinite!

A real relationship based on Faith in Jesus, is totally different to 'religion' I can assure you!

Whilst I would agree that God Warns us to be wary of trusting our 'feelings', because they can be misleading and swayed by the moment! I would venture to suggest that when Jesus takes up residence in a heart and spirit, then it IS important to listen to both of these! Because where Jesus IS, there can be NO deception! Learning to 'listen' with our spiritual 'ears'
to His Still, Small Voice, saying "This is my way for you, walk in it!" cannot happen over night! It takes time and is blended with reading God's Holy Word (The Bible) in our 'quiet times'!

To blame 'religion' for all that is wrong and the atrocities practised in its name is WRONG! You will find that if they were honest (even though they probably wouldn't admit it if dragged over hot coals), people who use violence to further their 'cause', are simply violent minded people! If religion was suddenly out of the equation, they would simply find another excuse for their bloodletting!

Obviously there are times when there is no other way (as in 1939 when we had to stand against Hitler and the evil that he represented and unleashed upon europe) but in those instances elected governments make that decision for good reason !

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD SO DON'T BLAME HIM!!!

I would say that the lady in question should go where The Holy Spirit is drawing her - HE Knows where He wants her to be and why He wants her there! She simply needs to keep her eyes fixed on Jesus and trust Him and He will do the rest!

I think that the lady was very blessed to have you listen to her and encourage her as you did! May God Bless you for it!

Answer 2

Because while lots of people are interested in studying those religions, Christianity is the most dominant in the US, and thus the one that gets the most attention. It's one thing to study a religion for personal understanding and another to try and understand a religion whose adherents have the power to impact my life. I ask and answer a lot of questions in regards to Christianity because I was raised Christian, gave it up, and live in a largely Christian country. It effects me therefore I am more worried about it than say Hinduism, which has little to no impact on me.

Answer 3

Sheesh, people are so intolerant these days, why can't this girl just choose what she wants to do with her life without half the people on earth condemning her for it. Modern Democracy was founded on freedom of religion and acceptance of everyone. If she feels that being catholic is right then she should be catholic. I don't agree with their doctrine but that doesn't make them wrong. People also need to find out what the word "cult" means before they start tossing it out there.

Crusader, the Mormon Church is not an offshoot of Catholisism, and the largest church in the world is the combined Christian Churches break those down and Islam is first.

And by the way, the bible I read defines the word Christian as

A name first given to believers in Jesus Christ at Antioch in Syria, about A.D. 43 (Acts 11: 26). It was perhaps given contemptuously, but was accepted by followers of Christ as a fit title. See 1 Pet. 4: 16;

I'm pretty sure that the man hanging on the cross in most catholic churches is Jesus Christ, so the catholic church would fit the "bible's clear definition" of Christianity

Answer 4

There is a Christian joke that goes:
A person dies and is being shown around Heaven by the Angel Gabriel. As they are looking round, the person sees a vast, high wall. From the other side of the wall the peson can hear choruses and singing, and asks Gabriel what is on the other side. Gabriel says in a hushed voice, "Shh! It's the Charismatics, they think they're the only ones up here!"

Unfortunately the Catholics come in for a lot of bad press. They are seen as old fashioned etc. I am not a Catholic but I am a practicing Christian. The lady in question should follow her heart and not be pressured into anything she doesn't want to do - this not just true for Christianity, but for life in general.

Catholisism is not a cult or wrong, it just one of many Denominations (branches) of Christianity, like Baptists, Church of England (Anglican), The Free Churches, Greek Orthodox, etc, etc.

Answer 5

Since you are a (Non-Christian) your own words, then you would not understand how satan will pull a person anyway but to the Cross of Christ. Notice very carefully if you will the Catholic Church is full of Statues that the members bow down in front of, this is call idol worship. As a Christian I worship no idol, I do not even worship the Cross, but the One who died on it. The Catholic Church also teaches that Mary is the Queen of Heaven, Wrong there is no Queen of Heaven, Mary was only a just woman whom God saw fit to send His Son Jesus into the world through. They also teach that the Pope is the one that forgives sin, also wrong, the only one that is able to forgive sin is the Father in Heaven, through the Blood of His Son Jesus. I could go on but I hope you get, that what I am saying in short is God is God and no man on this earth has the power to forgive sin only God.

Answer 6

Yes Hugs, a Christian is a "Christian", but NOT all the people that make the claim of being a "Christian" ARE Christians! Think of it this way...if you did NOT want someone to find out the "TRUTH" wouldn't you put a bunch of "look alikes" out there so that it would be difficult at best to choose what is "right"? That is what satan has done. Not all churches are "Good" churches, not all the church bodies teach the Truth. So..how in this world can one REALLY ever FIND out which "TRUTH" to choose?...Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God. READ your Bible. NIV, NKJV, KJ, NISB just to name a few, and of course there are the "beginner's type" of Bibles that are "paraphrased" (means written in "other words", more easily understood, in today's language, yet meaning pretty much the same context) such as The Message, or the Living Bible. When you REALLY want to know WHO God is, THAT is where you are going to find the TRUTH. We "Christians" do NOT follow a "Religion"! We follow a Risen Savior!! We as "Christians" struggle the same as do other people. We "fall down" but we also get back up, and try again & again. We should be telling people "don't follow me..but follow the Lord!! Jesus Christ, and Him only!"
People that observe us & our behavior, sometimes think badly of Jesus Christ, but it is NOT Him that has behaved "badly", just the sinful person that is TRYING to follow Christ. In ANY Organized religion, there are MANY "wolves" so to speak...meaning people that are NOT "Christians" in their heart of hearts. They are there leading the IGNORANT to eternal destruction! BUT if YOU are wise, you will not fall into their traps..HOW?...READ the Word of God, (Bible) God will NOT lead you astray, and when other PEOPLE attempt to "decieve" you, you are standing on the FIRM foundation of the Word, & you KNOW what is TRUTH, and what is NOT. God has many of His Children in the various churches, Catholic included. But one NEEDS to know the TRUTH about God, and then allow God to lead that person to the body that he needs to be with. ("Christians are NOT "lead by their feelings!" for God says, "the heart (feelings) is DECEPTIVE above all things". But God also says, "when you KNOW the Truth, the TRUTH shall set you Free!" Do you see why it can be so "confusing" when you see well-meaning people that make the claim of Christian, trying to tell others where to "belong" or what is right/wrong. Before you listen to these folks, ASK them "Do you KNOW & daily read YOUR Bible?!" If they answer yes, Do they LIVE what they READ? If again the answer is "yes", then most likely they will TELL you to Read the Word too! Because our God is a VERY personal God, meaning He wants to speak with YOU directly, and NOT through "hearsay" or 2nd hand information! You were trying to be kind, but that sorta "kindness" can be dangerous, because the person can easily be lost forever. Get to KNOW Jesus Christ, yourself, & then you will be able to rightly "Point the Way" to LIFE eternal, in Paradise! Where there is no more sorrow, sickness, or even death. Just happiness, joy in abundance and Love MORE than anyone could even imagine! (To me personally, that is WORTH the search!)
How about you? I HOPE and pray with all my heart that YOU would consider the "search" well worth the effort too!

Answer 7

Whoever this person is that you are talking about, needs to decide for herself what is best and follow her own conscience.

She needs to ignore the few socially retarded individuals who think they're on some crusade to "disapprove" religions and those who claim their religion is the only right religion.

I don't believe in a God or follow any religion, but that doesn't mean I believe everyone else has to think the same way.

Answer 8

That is what we call a sh!t storm. There are many sects in Christianity. If she wants to become Catholic that is her business.

I no longer identify with any sect within the Christian religion but that is another story.

The best advice for her is to go, check it out, pray, and compare things taught by doing her own bible study.

I'll copy and paste this post over there too.

Answer 9

Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return. Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.) Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history: Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy. The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin: Any merely human organization would have collapsed long ago. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20). For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28). Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

Answer 10

The problem is that Christianity tends to lead its followers down a path of criticism and judgmental behavior.

You can see this in some of the answers here.

It really shows the nature of the God that many Christians worship. Imagine a God who would torture a person for not quite understanding complicated doctrine.

Unthinkable, but people really do follow that line of reasoning.