Thursday, August 12, 2010

Here is what he really meant...

I found this on the Apprising Ministries Blog today and I offer it up for your consideration:

“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” – (Mahatma Gandhi)

I always thought this was a foolish statement. I never thought it was worth repeating nor did I like it when "Christians" used it to attack fundamental believers. I like the “interpretation” given on the aforementioned blog site:

“So, for your edification, I’ll take a quick moment and put this quote—from a man who never believed Who (sic) Jesus is and as a result died in his sins (see—John 8:24)—into a proper context and fix it, once and for all. Here’s what Ghandi really meant:”

“I like the Christ whom I have made up in my own mind; I do not like Christians who remind me of the doctrine, i.e. Christianity that He actually taught. Your Christians are so unlike the teachings of the imaginary Christ that I happen to like.”

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

great post

Anonymous said...

going to share it on twitter

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

A wonderful post Gregg.

Have a nice day.

Yvonne.

Anonymous said...

Amen!! I totally agree! I'll bet if Mr. Ghandi had the opportunity to return from his eternal place of "unrest" he would say, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible so you can escape the judgment to come!"

There will be no blaming others for your unbelief when you stand before the Righteous Judge of the universe in that day.

Persis said...

Very true! I've also heard this quote used against Christians by other Christians. I think we need to pay less attention to what Gandhi said and more attention to what Jesus said. (John 15:18-19)

Gregg Metcalf said...

TT - Thank you, I don't know how twitte works but thanks.

OG - Yes, Ron I think if he could, Ganhdi would be singing a new tune about now.

PM - I am with you, we need to listen to Christ and forget about those who don't know him and their philosophy. (Other than lead them to Christ) Christians have used this quote against other Christians and it galls me.

AL said...

We have some atheists who like to come out and oppose our street preaching, and they had a sign with that quote on it.
The thing is, we are all human - even Christians, and we WILL fall short, we WILL let you down, we won't be perfect this side of heaven. Don't look to His followers, look to Christ alone!

I had never even thought of what you said on this Gregg, that Gandhi might have had an idol in mind that he called "Jesus." That is a very common form of idolatry, both inside and outside church walls.

Great post!

WhiteStone said...

Oops...I'm going to go against the grain here. I tend to agree with Gandhi's comment. I can name multiple "Christians" such as William Branham, Haggard, Olsteen, etc., whose teachings and/or behavior are wayyyy off base. Can you imagine the disciples listening to them without rebuking them?

There are many areas of the "Christian" community that I would be embarrassed to join.

I'm not being egotistical. Just looking closely at what they teach and how they live.

Check out William Branham in regards to Genesis 3 here:
http://tinyurl.com/2bzvt9m

Arlee Bird said...

I have heard this quote before. I don't know the exact context or exactly what Christians he was thinking of, but I think I can kind of understand some of what he is saying. I'm sure that he is not alone in sincerely believing this. There have been many movements and people who have had the label of Christian put upon them when they were not really espousing Christian ideals. Also, anti-Christian propagandists will label certain negatives as being associated with Christianity. Some that come to mind are Timothy McVeigh, the attrocities of the Crusades, the Inquisition, and Adolf Hitler-- movements that have been incorrectly related to Christianity by Christian haters. A misinformed person with some limited knowledge of the Gospels could easily believe like Ghandi.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Brian Ray Todd said...

Gandhi's religion is Hiduism isn't it? Christaians are not followers of Jesus Christ the good man, but Jesus Christ the God/Man, third person of the Trinity, Creator of all, Savior of the world, Lord of all, and the only way to salvation and eternal life in Heaven.