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"Corinthians and Gandhi"
IMMATURE, FLESHLY
As I mentioned last week, the Corinthian Church members had first believed in Christ (for salvation) some time ago. They had received the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, there was a problem as Paul revealed in Chapter three (I Corinthians 3:1-3, NLT):
Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
Even though, by this time, the church members should have been maturing into spiritual adults regarding their faith, Paul found them to be “worldly” in their thought processes and their conduct. As a result, they were not thinking like Christ, talking like Christ, feeling like Christ, or acting like Christ.
This pinpoints a problem for the church of the first century A.D. Nothing has changed in 2,000 years! Furthermore, if it is such an enormous dilemma for the church of Jesus Christ that possesses the Spirit of God, think about the enormity of the problem for a world without Christ. The world is looking to the church to provide answers to their spiritual dilemma.
If the church of Jesus Christ truly consists of God’s “called out” people redeemed by the blood of the Lamb…if we have received the Spirit of Christ into our hearts…if our very “natures” have been transformed from being self-centered to God-centered…and if we have truly been brought from death unto life, then why do so many Christians fail to imitate Christ?
GHANDI
I came across an excellent, albeit eye-opening, article by a journalist named Frank Raj in the Washington Post (“Gandhi Glimpsed Christ…” December 31, 2014). Raj, from India, wrote about the connection between Mahatma Gandhi, the famed Indian pacifist/Hindu, and Christianity. It is impossible to summarize any better than Raj from his own words, so allow me to quote from Him:
He wrote,
After twenty centuries all that can be said of Christianity is that it is the world’s largest religion with over 2 billion followers. Its influence on men’s hearts and minds as the truth is highly debatable.
Mahatma Gandhi is perhaps the best example of someone who was discerning enough to reject Christianity not Christ…Like Gandhi millions have been unable to see the Christ obscured by Christianity.
Gandhi was shrewd enough to tell missionaries, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When asked why he did not embrace Christianity, Gandhi said it offered nothing he could not get from his own religion, observing, “…to be a good Hindu also meant that I would be a good Christian. There is no need for me to join your creed to be a believer in the beauty of the teachings of Jesus or try to follow His example.”
I hate to say it, but this is the exact sentiment of many unbelievers today throughout the world. They do not categorically reject the person or teachings of Christ, but many are definitely snubbing the religion of Christianity. Many polls confirm the identical reaction to Christianity in our own home-towns and cities. More than ever before, there are a much larger number of people who claim to be “spiritual” but are not connected to any church or organized group of Christians.
Although the entire article is a fine read, let me quote just one more sentence from Raj, “When people surrender their hearts to Christ and discover sin’s grip can be broken, they will not settle for a lofty religion that complicates life and brings no deliverance.” Well, although an opponent of Christianity, he most certainly speaks the truth in this case. People are definitely not searching for “a lofty religion that complicates life and brings no deliverance.” They are not looking for a religion of rules and ritual and self-righteousness. They are not drawn to the adherents of a religion who dress up all nice on a Sunday morning and pretend to be “angels,” and then turn around and clothe themselves in a contrasting costume (both inside and out) the remainder of the week. The world is not hunting for a religious people who talk, act, and think the same as them. They fully realize they do not have a solution the world’s chaos. But they may well be interested in becoming part of a people who talk, act, feel, and think like Jesus Christ Himself and have the power to transform the world!
This was Paul’s concern for the Corinthian Church members. This would be Paul’s concern if he was traveling throughout the United States and visiting our churches today. His message would change little, if at all: “Let us grow up into spiritually mature adults in the Lord and put away our old carnal, fleshly, worldly, selfish thinking and acting. We should have the mind of Christ.”
As I mentioned last week, the Corinthian Church members had first believed in Christ (for salvation) some time ago. They had received the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, there was a problem as Paul revealed in Chapter three (I Corinthians 3:1-3, NLT):
Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
Even though, by this time, the church members should have been maturing into spiritual adults regarding their faith, Paul found them to be “worldly” in their thought processes and their conduct. As a result, they were not thinking like Christ, talking like Christ, feeling like Christ, or acting like Christ.
This pinpoints a problem for the church of the first century A.D. Nothing has changed in 2,000 years! Furthermore, if it is such an enormous dilemma for the church of Jesus Christ that possesses the Spirit of God, think about the enormity of the problem for a world without Christ. The world is looking to the church to provide answers to their spiritual dilemma.
If the church of Jesus Christ truly consists of God’s “called out” people redeemed by the blood of the Lamb…if we have received the Spirit of Christ into our hearts…if our very “natures” have been transformed from being self-centered to God-centered…and if we have truly been brought from death unto life, then why do so many Christians fail to imitate Christ?
GHANDI
I came across an excellent, albeit eye-opening, article by a journalist named Frank Raj in the Washington Post (“Gandhi Glimpsed Christ…” December 31, 2014). Raj, from India, wrote about the connection between Mahatma Gandhi, the famed Indian pacifist/Hindu, and Christianity. It is impossible to summarize any better than Raj from his own words, so allow me to quote from Him:
He wrote,
After twenty centuries all that can be said of Christianity is that it is the world’s largest religion with over 2 billion followers. Its influence on men’s hearts and minds as the truth is highly debatable.
Mahatma Gandhi is perhaps the best example of someone who was discerning enough to reject Christianity not Christ…Like Gandhi millions have been unable to see the Christ obscured by Christianity.
Gandhi was shrewd enough to tell missionaries, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When asked why he did not embrace Christianity, Gandhi said it offered nothing he could not get from his own religion, observing, “…to be a good Hindu also meant that I would be a good Christian. There is no need for me to join your creed to be a believer in the beauty of the teachings of Jesus or try to follow His example.”
I hate to say it, but this is the exact sentiment of many unbelievers today throughout the world. They do not categorically reject the person or teachings of Christ, but many are definitely snubbing the religion of Christianity. Many polls confirm the identical reaction to Christianity in our own home-towns and cities. More than ever before, there are a much larger number of people who claim to be “spiritual” but are not connected to any church or organized group of Christians.
Although the entire article is a fine read, let me quote just one more sentence from Raj, “When people surrender their hearts to Christ and discover sin’s grip can be broken, they will not settle for a lofty religion that complicates life and brings no deliverance.” Well, although an opponent of Christianity, he most certainly speaks the truth in this case. People are definitely not searching for “a lofty religion that complicates life and brings no deliverance.” They are not looking for a religion of rules and ritual and self-righteousness. They are not drawn to the adherents of a religion who dress up all nice on a Sunday morning and pretend to be “angels,” and then turn around and clothe themselves in a contrasting costume (both inside and out) the remainder of the week. The world is not hunting for a religious people who talk, act, and think the same as them. They fully realize they do not have a solution the world’s chaos. But they may well be interested in becoming part of a people who talk, act, feel, and think like Jesus Christ Himself and have the power to transform the world!
This was Paul’s concern for the Corinthian Church members. This would be Paul’s concern if he was traveling throughout the United States and visiting our churches today. His message would change little, if at all: “Let us grow up into spiritually mature adults in the Lord and put away our old carnal, fleshly, worldly, selfish thinking and acting. We should have the mind of Christ.”
