I’ve found myself in several conversations lately about the divinity of Jesus Christ. I think because we’ve all been talking about what it means to be a Christian. It goes without saying that Christianity has come a long way from following Christ. Christians have been making Christianity about whatever they want it to be for thousands of years, and usually, it has some version of something that suited white men. These days, it’s become pretty defined by the people it finds unacceptable, which is just about as far you can get from the original message. But I digress.
The point is that I’ve grown really uninterested in the debate. “Is Christ the Son of God? Is Christ just a dynamic guy who said stuff people wrote down? I’ve decided it doesn’t matter to me.
I’m more concerned with the stuff he said that people wrote down, really. Because whoever Christ was, he was right about how to treat people (Matthew 5:43 Matthew 7:12 Matthew 22:38-39 Mark 12:31-33 Luke 6:27-36 Luke 10:30-37 John 13:34-35 John 15:12) and what we should be doing for each other (Matthew 25:34-46 Mark 10:21 -22 Mark 12:41-44 Luke 3:11 Luke 12:16-21 Luke 14:12-14 Luke 12:16-21). I am a follower of Christ because I think the world would be a better place if we all treated each other the way He taught us to do. I’m going to stick with that, whether or not it means I’m saved in the afterlife, or it just means I’m following some good advice from an insightful Jewish guy who lived thousands of years ago.
Are we then free to improve on some of His advice? For instance, as a nonconfrontational person who respects boundaries I much prefer the silver rule over the golden rule.
I would rather be known as a follower of Jesus Christ than as a Christian. Christian is a term that is sometimes used as a weapon.
I completely agree. We have made “taking upon us His name” pretty meaningless. I’d rather it be said that I emulated Him.
Amen to all you said!
Christ-like is the way to go. Christianity is just a phrase some people call themselves. Jesus didn’t call Himself “Christian” anyhow. People can argue about certain aspects of God until the donkeys come Home to their Glory, but when He says “my thoughts are higher than your thoughts”, that’s referring to everyone on the planet. We won’t know real truths until we get to the Highest Realm. So, peace folks.