FREEDOM FILES
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1, NIV).
[email protected]
www.freedomfiles.weebly.com
ISSUE #11
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Gandhi on Christianity
Mahatmas Gandhi was born October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, India. He was killed by a fanatic on January 30, 1948, at the age of 78. He was educated as a lawyer and worked tirelessly for the rights of Indians in South Africa as well as for the freedom of India from British rule. He is probably best known as “the architect of a form of civil disobedience that would influence the world” (http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898#synopsis). His style of non-violent non-cooperation would later be duplicated by Martin Luther King, Jr. and others.
Gandhi is credited with a number of quotes. Here are just a few:
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
“Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.”
“Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal? In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman.”
“Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time.”
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”
“There are many things to do. Let each one of us choose our task and stick to it through thick and thin. Let us not think of the vastness. But let us pick up that portion which we can handle best.”
“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”
“For one man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.”
“If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.”
Some of these thoughts could be considered wise proverbs. For some, one might even find parallel sayings in the teachings of Jesus or the Apostle Paul. But the quote that stood out to me and hit me directly between my eyes was this:
“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Even though Gandhi died in 1948, what he said should cause us to pause for self-evaluation today. In learning about Jesus, Gandhi was able to conclude that our Christ, our Messiah, our Savior, is someone whom he could like. After all, Jesus and Gandhi both elevated women above where their societies kept them. They both taught against racial bias and discrimination. They both taught against class warfare. In so many ways, even though he never claimed to be a follower of Christ, Gandhi practiced the principals that Jesus taught and lived. Then Gandhi continues by saying, “I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” As a follower of Christ I hope that no one will ever say about me, “He is so unlike his Christ”. And yet, even in the time that Gandhi lived, his observation was, from the outside looking in, that Christians are not living the lives that Christ has called us to live. How much more can this be said of followers of Christ today?
THE PROBLEM:
The problem is not new. In fact, it is as old as time. It is called arrogance. Some apostles were even guilty. On one occasion the brothers, James and John, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask” (Mark 10:35). Jesus responds, “What do you want me to do for you” (Mark 10:36)? At this point we see their humanity. Their human nature is to lift themselves up. They replied to Jesus with their request: “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory” (Mark 10:37). It is easy for us to look back through the eyes of history and judge these disciples as self-serving, but what about followers of Christ today? What about you and me?
Arrogance is not always seen in a position or a title. Sometimes arrogance shows up in proving my position correct. My version of Christianity is better than your version of Christianity. My church is better than your church. I understand this passage of Scripture and you don’t; therefore you are a false teacher. Pointing out the “errors” of others, the “false doctrine” of others and the differences that make one right and another wrong are all caused by arrogance. When followers of Christ are so busy fighting among each other that all we see are the differences between us we will never achieve the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17.
THE SOLUTION:
The solution is simple. It is not easy, but it is simple.
Step One: LOVE GOD. “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:34-38).
Step Two: LOVE PEOPLE. “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
Step Three: SERVE OTHERS. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
These three steps will not only change the way we see ourselves in relation to Jesus, but when we put these steps into practice in our daily lives, they will change the way people on the outside view us as followers of Christ. Let me conclude with the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the church in Philippi. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).
Let’s strive to be more like Jesus by loving God, loving people, and serving others. May it never be said of us that “Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
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Responses from Readers
From a Reader in California:
Please subscribe me to Freedom Files.
From a Reader in Georgia:
_____ forwarded me your blog post. Loved it! Thanks for actually answering the question. :)
I hope you are well. I lived in Ventura for 5 years and would always think of you when people talked about Lompoc.
Hope you and your family are thriving. How do I find your blog?
From a Reader in Alabama:
Don, your gift is amazing, so thankful for it and blessed that you are my family!
From a Reader in Unknown:
Please add me to your mailing list. Thank you!
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If you would like to be added to or removed from this mailing list, contact me and I will immediately comply with your request. If you are challenged by these newsletters, then feel free to send them on to others and encourage them to write for a free subscription. I would also welcome any questions or comments from the readers.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1, NIV).
[email protected]
www.freedomfiles.weebly.com
ISSUE #11
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Gandhi on Christianity
Mahatmas Gandhi was born October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, India. He was killed by a fanatic on January 30, 1948, at the age of 78. He was educated as a lawyer and worked tirelessly for the rights of Indians in South Africa as well as for the freedom of India from British rule. He is probably best known as “the architect of a form of civil disobedience that would influence the world” (http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898#synopsis). His style of non-violent non-cooperation would later be duplicated by Martin Luther King, Jr. and others.
Gandhi is credited with a number of quotes. Here are just a few:
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
“Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.”
“Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal? In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman.”
“Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time.”
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”
“There are many things to do. Let each one of us choose our task and stick to it through thick and thin. Let us not think of the vastness. But let us pick up that portion which we can handle best.”
“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”
“For one man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.”
“If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.”
Some of these thoughts could be considered wise proverbs. For some, one might even find parallel sayings in the teachings of Jesus or the Apostle Paul. But the quote that stood out to me and hit me directly between my eyes was this:
“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Even though Gandhi died in 1948, what he said should cause us to pause for self-evaluation today. In learning about Jesus, Gandhi was able to conclude that our Christ, our Messiah, our Savior, is someone whom he could like. After all, Jesus and Gandhi both elevated women above where their societies kept them. They both taught against racial bias and discrimination. They both taught against class warfare. In so many ways, even though he never claimed to be a follower of Christ, Gandhi practiced the principals that Jesus taught and lived. Then Gandhi continues by saying, “I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” As a follower of Christ I hope that no one will ever say about me, “He is so unlike his Christ”. And yet, even in the time that Gandhi lived, his observation was, from the outside looking in, that Christians are not living the lives that Christ has called us to live. How much more can this be said of followers of Christ today?
THE PROBLEM:
The problem is not new. In fact, it is as old as time. It is called arrogance. Some apostles were even guilty. On one occasion the brothers, James and John, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask” (Mark 10:35). Jesus responds, “What do you want me to do for you” (Mark 10:36)? At this point we see their humanity. Their human nature is to lift themselves up. They replied to Jesus with their request: “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory” (Mark 10:37). It is easy for us to look back through the eyes of history and judge these disciples as self-serving, but what about followers of Christ today? What about you and me?
Arrogance is not always seen in a position or a title. Sometimes arrogance shows up in proving my position correct. My version of Christianity is better than your version of Christianity. My church is better than your church. I understand this passage of Scripture and you don’t; therefore you are a false teacher. Pointing out the “errors” of others, the “false doctrine” of others and the differences that make one right and another wrong are all caused by arrogance. When followers of Christ are so busy fighting among each other that all we see are the differences between us we will never achieve the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17.
THE SOLUTION:
The solution is simple. It is not easy, but it is simple.
Step One: LOVE GOD. “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:34-38).
Step Two: LOVE PEOPLE. “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
Step Three: SERVE OTHERS. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
These three steps will not only change the way we see ourselves in relation to Jesus, but when we put these steps into practice in our daily lives, they will change the way people on the outside view us as followers of Christ. Let me conclude with the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the church in Philippi. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).
Let’s strive to be more like Jesus by loving God, loving people, and serving others. May it never be said of us that “Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Responses from Readers
From a Reader in California:
Please subscribe me to Freedom Files.
From a Reader in Georgia:
_____ forwarded me your blog post. Loved it! Thanks for actually answering the question. :)
I hope you are well. I lived in Ventura for 5 years and would always think of you when people talked about Lompoc.
Hope you and your family are thriving. How do I find your blog?
From a Reader in Alabama:
Don, your gift is amazing, so thankful for it and blessed that you are my family!
From a Reader in Unknown:
Please add me to your mailing list. Thank you!
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
If you would like to be added to or removed from this mailing list, contact me and I will immediately comply with your request. If you are challenged by these newsletters, then feel free to send them on to others and encourage them to write for a free subscription. I would also welcome any questions or comments from the readers.