Eric Martindale

On the True Nature of Christianity

Thursday, February 5 2009 11:02 AM • by • christianity, islam, philosophy, religion, tacitus •

In liturgical Islam texts, we are called Masihi (مسيحي), or "Followers of the Messiah". In Chinese, we are 基督徒 - a literal "Christ follower". Regardless of what you call us, I feel that who is defined as a "Christian" has deviated far from what has been laid out by Christ and his closest disciples.

On a daily basis, I am faced with the bitter disgust incited by the dogma surrounding the "Christian" faith. A growing number of intellectuals shun Christianity as a result of its hypocrisy; all too common is the known Christian who is seen lying, cheating, stealing, or otherwise sinning--directly in opposition to the perception of the Church to be wholly condescending upon sinners and their deeds. The view of Christian doctrine that enforces a "fire and brimstone" doom upon those who do not repent from their sinful ways is one that is misunderstood and misinterpreted, turning people away from the true nature of Christianity before a full understanding is given.

In 1st John, John writes (and I promise to keep my number of Bible references to a minimum):

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1st John 1:8

It is the very nature of the Christian faith to recognize that we sin: this is the whole premise of following the figure that our faith is named after. We are sinners, and we do participate in activities and perform activities that are duly defiant of the damnation that is preached from some pulpits. It is our aspiration to emulate the figurehead by admitting our sins and providing unconditional love to everyone and everything we come into contact with that is supposed to set us apart from nonbelievers.

However, it is unfortunate that most "Christians" have lost sight of our true nature (that is, to love and care for all of God's creation) and are not the loving and caring role models that our faith demands. John continues in chapter 4:

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1st John 4:7-12

As the passage exemplifies, God is embodied in our capacity to love; it is the command of love that we must maintain first and foremost. If we do not have love, we have nothing. (See "All You Need Is Love")

I fully agree with the perception that Christians today are too righteous: we are commanded to be humble. It is for this reason, among others, that I most frequently choose to be called (...) a "follower of Christ" as opposed to a "Christian" (which ironically enough, was used as a condemning phrase). Christians have no right to tout their holiness as a indicator of superiority over anyone.

We must love everyone; Muslims, Jews, the poor, the sick, the needy... people of all races, faiths, nationalities and conditions; all are included in the Christian's domain of unconditional love and tolerance, no matter what their actions. As the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said:

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"