What does it mean - BE Christian?

[Beren]

Following the suggestion by the mods from Bible thread I wanted to make a new approach to the story.

So what does it mean to be Christian?
Who can call themselves Christian?
Was Jesus Christian?

All these are valid questions.

First of all let us hear a good thought from J. Krishnamurti :












Now I think that his words are wise. He speaks about the essence of what it is.
If you noticed he is concerned with every man and not separation , Same is with Christ.

The term Christ is a Greek derivative from Hebrew Messiah which means -deliverer.
This is the simplest representation but it is accurate at its core.

So "Deliverer" from what or whom?

Upon reading about his life ,you`d see that Jesus`s aim was to deliver humans from lowly conscience and bring them back to Father - God-Creator-Love -Life itself.

Now Christians are supposed to be people or group of people who are on the same bandwidth with Jesus Christ.

How many are that today?

Some are called Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Mormon, Adventists,Jehovah Witnesses, Lutherans ,Anglicans...list goes on.

But scarcely you would find anyone saying they are Christian.

Why ?

Are they afraid of Jesus or not on the same level in their hearts?
Some take refuge in Bible but don`t listen its very words about what does it mean to be Christian.

So what does it mean?

To be united with Creator in spirit- thus you will act as God itself.
You will BE Love and compassion and laughter and joy.

"Love God and love your neighbor"

I call anyone with good will here to write their own examples of what it means to actually BE Christian. For if we are united with Creator , the great spirit of all and Father of Life ,then we are Christed and are walking the walk and talking the talk.

Be blessed everyone!

Beren

[bogeyman]

Following a set of values maybe a starting point, or excepting Jesus was indeed sent by the creator. Man has through history "mudded the waters" as to what a christian is. It has been manipulated for political and for personal power throughout the centuries. Getting to the core or route of faith or belief is indeed a difficult road.

[truth4me]

Loving God and love your neighbor are the 2 golden rules that are in the bible. If we all as humans really tried to love our neighbor as ourself a whole lot of problems in our world to day would clear up very fast.......yet, it goes back to TPTB running things and are always stiring the pot to keep people messed up and confused IMO........

[spiritguide]

Christian = Christ like. Loving and respecting one's self as well as all creation is the path. IMHO

[Taurean]

Beliefs conflict with logic

[Beren]

Posted by Taurean (here)
Beliefs confict with logic

In their basic forms...

[WhiteFeather]

Christian is a power label.....if you will. Much like saying Im a Jew, Im a Muslim etc. The meaning is the same in all religions which defined is simple....." Do unto to others as you would do to thineself".

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=soRFEeLEXn4

[Heartsong]

Beren
Regarding your first post. Joining a religion here is something like joining a political party. Commonly a person will declare his/her faith (particularly Christians) in formal and informal conversations especially when meeting someone for the first time. It's a way of showing your status and introducing religion into the conversation.

Christians elevate themselves above non-Christians. They feel that they are "saved" and others are not. God loves me more than you. Those like me that do not attend a Christian church just remain silent when confronted with this attitude. If you speak up you're marked as a candidate for conversion.

I had an acquaintance who had grown up steeped in Christian exclusivity. When traveling she was offered a place to stay in, as she put it "a non-Christian home". She was sincerely surprised to find that it was no different than her own!

[EsmaEverheart]

I love Eva Cassidy! Thank you for the video WhiteFeather! Sorry if I got off topic.

[bogeyman]

It could be said that even using terms like christian, jewish etc is a division in itself, getting away from the true meaning. Unity is what is needed here. It is not the label that is important it is the teaching, and the important of what it is trying to tell us.

[Beren]

Posted by Heartsong (here)
Beren
Regarding your first post. Joining a religion here is something like joining a political party. Commonly a person will declare his/her faith (particularly Christians) in formal and informal conversations especially when meeting someone for the first time. It's a way of showing your status and introducing religion into the conversation.

Christians elevate themselves above non-Christians. They feel that they are "saved" and others are not. God loves me more than you. Those like me that do not attend a Christian church just remain silent when confronted with this attitude. If you speak up you're marked as a candidate for conversion.

I had an acquaintance who had grown up steeped in Christian exclusivity. When traveling she was offered a place to stay in, as she put it "a non-Christian home". She was sincerely surprised to find that it was no different than her own!

Thank you for this experience about that woman.
But take a notice about WHO is a Christian. Is it the one who labels him/her self as Christian?
Or is it the one who lives on a higher way?

"Many will tell me in that day that they did cast out demons and did miracles in my name but I will tell them get away,I never knew you"

I paraphrased Jesus`s words here... who are the ones who never got to meet Christ and never to live his spirit of God and yet dare to perform miracles in his name and meddle with forces above their own reasoning???

It seems like these people forget that you cannot buy off God or bribe him to "get" the status...

[Rantaak]

According to my friend Jesus, being a Christian means giving your power away to a theocratic set of indoctrinating axioms which force one into a mode of subservient violence.

Jesus was not a Christian. The bible and all other accompanying hogwash is making him roll in his proverbial grave. Dante Aligheri understood this truth on a very intimate level - hence the social commentary known as the Divine Comedy. The Vatican is lying twice. First they said that we can go to hell for lack of subservience. Then they said hell wasn't real. The real truth is that we're living in hell right now and this is as dead as we'll ever be.

Enjoy it while it's still around!

[truthseekerdan]

From my perspective, I have to convince a whole lot of people that I am seriously carrying a message from Christ, in not a whole lot of time. The most logical target for me to approach first, since I am carrying a Christian message, would be Christians; but, with that said, it may be easier said than done. I say this because there already exists a whole lot of Christians, of one denomination, that believe that a whole lot more Christians, of the many other denominations, are going to Hell -- simply because they practice a different dogma (or any number of other petty reasons that I am too limited on space here to list). This makes actually understanding what being a Christian really means become very important -- and, if I shock too many Christians with that understanding, few will invite me into their churches to tell their congregations what Christ's message is for them. Still, it must be known

To preface this, one has to first come to the realization that Jesus Christ (not the real name), was not a member of a "Christian" religion. He was a Jew, as were all of the Apostles and the greater part of his followers. Likewise, John the Baptist was Jewish, the son of Aaron -- but, both of these "holy" men knew that there was more to a life in honor of God, than simply following the dogma of Jewish Law. What set Jesus Christ apart from being Jewish was the way that he lived his life and taught others to live their lives; and, this included teaching the same principles to the Gentiles, or non-Jews, that He taught to the Jews. In essence, Jesus Christ was the model for which all people should live their lives, regardless of their religion. This is the true meaning of what being Christian is -- but, nearly 2,000 years after Christ was crucified, that meaning appears to be quite lost...


“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

[Beren]

Posted by Rantaak (here)
According to my friend Jesus, being a Christian means giving your power away to a theocratic set of indoctrinating axioms which force one into a mode of subservient violence.

Jesus was not a Christian. The bible and all other accompanying hogwash is making him roll in his proverbial grave. Dante Aligheri understood this truth on a very intimate level - hence the social commentary known as the Divine Comedy. The Vatican is lying twice. First they said that we can go to hell for lack of subservience. Then they said hell wasn't real. The real truth is that we're living in hell right now and this is as dead as we'll ever be.

Enjoy it while it's still around!

I don`t know about which Jesus you`re talking about

To be Christian means to take power back to you and decide actually to live on a higher way,meaning if you will, vibrate higher frequency of Love and compassion and joy.
It`s a tough decision to make...

[DeDukshyn]

My take is a little different on the whole "Christ" thing than what the religion says, but I think that is somewhat the goal here. I was born and raised Christian so I am very familiar.

I don't see Jesus (whoever he was) as the Christ or God, but I believe there was a man in which the Christ was able to speak through, and I also believe that we all have this ability as the man named Jesus told us. The mind is a two part structure, an ego, and a higher self. Right now the ego is driving. Jesus managed to put his ego in the back seat which allowed the Christ to be expressed through him. Apotheosis. The Christ is our collective higher selves, a vast consciousness that desires to connect with each of us. But this can only happen when the ego is not in the drivers seat, a polarity in the mind has to flip before this can take place.

So I see any notion to attempt to put the ego in the back seat and have the higher consciousness -- the Christ -- do the driving, as being "Christian" in a loose sense, and I feel this is exactly what the Christ has been trying to tell us through Jesus but as well many others to different extents.

So my view has removed the religion completely from being a "Christian", and allows that term to be more general to anyone seeking the direct guidance of the Christ consciousness. So now under this new definition, for me, anyone from any religion or walk of life can be a "Christian" (to use a label - its just a label).

Afterall, is this not what Jesus was really trying to tell us? My 2 cents.

[Arpheus]

The way i look at it people have to stop believing things and start to think for themselves more,see folks the thing is the whole believe thing is one hell of a trap filled with dogma evil perversion and the list goes on and on,thats how they divide and conquer us like KINGS ,we need to start THINKING a lot more and stop believing all this crap we are being fed from the moment we are born into this beautiful planet of ours,Belief systems are the eternal trap that the controllers use to estabilish their world with their rules to run things the way THEY WANT,stop believing and start THINKING,because when you THINK it will set you free and you will start to see things the way they really are,and boy thats not a pleasant thing at first,but you get used to it and what a wonder it is,anyway i dont mean to offend anyone my friends but i really THINK we gotta start THINKING MORE AND BELIEVING LESS,in order to achieve a real sense and fell of what true spirituality and christianity really is all about,just my 2 cp!!
Peace and harmony to all!!

[Davy]

To be a Christian is to be Christ like unfortunately most so called Christians are far from that.

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by Arpheus (here)
The way i look at it people have to stop believing things and start to think for themselves more,see folks the thing is the whole believe thing is one hell of a trap filled with dogma evil perversion and the list goes on and on,thats how they divide and conquer us like KINGS ,we need to start THINKING a lot more and stop believing all this crap we are being fed from the moment we are born into this beautiful planet of ours,Belief systems are the eternal trap that the controllers use to estabilish their world with their rules to run things the way THEY WANT,stop believing and start THINKING,because when you THINK it will set you free and you will start to see things the way they really are,and boy thats not a pleasant thing at first,but you get used to it and what a wonder it is,anyway i dont mean to offend anyone my friends but i really THINK we gotta start THINKING MORE AND BELIEVING LESS,in order to achieve a real sense and fell of what true spirituality and christianity really is all about,just my 2 cp!!
Peace and harmony to all!!

I agree, and the way I look at it is simply: "Believe nothing, but consider everything." - however this is not really on topic to what the OP requested.

[GCS1103]

There are some really good posts here.

I think to be "Christian", one has to attempt to live their life in a way that focuses on being kind to others. To treat others like we want to be treated, to try very hard to understand that we are all different and accept those differences. To know, in our hearts, that we are no better than anyone else. To take responsibility for our choices and actions. In other words, to try to elevate ourselves as much as we can, above our baser human instincts.

I personally am uncomfortable sometimes, when a person boasts "I am a Christian", as if that is their passport to heaven and a justification for things they may do that are unkind. So to me, Christian is not a "religion" or going to a Church on Sunday; it's a way of living your life with love and kindness. It's called Christian because it is a way to honor Christ and his goodness; but for those who don't believe, it can just mean showing compassion and love towards our fellow man.

I like what Dedukshyn said about removing religion from defining a Christian life. I have nothing against religion. What bothers me is the hypocrisy I see in some churchgoers that think by spending a Sunday morning with a congregation, they are free to do anything they want every other day. I personally believe in Jesus/Christ so I will think of Him when I make a decision; but for those that don't share that belief, just helping out another is a blessing onto itself. That's being a Christian also, to my way of thinking.

[bogeyman]

All religions have some truth to them, but not the whole picture. I find them systematic, religion has become institutionalised, and been hijacked by those in power. Anything that effects the masses is subject to political control, surreptitiously usually. It has to some degree lost its way. Remember the basics, treat othesr the way you wish to be treated, all is one, there is no division, for it all comes from the same source.