Do you think Christianity is deficient?
What I call ‘Cultural Christianity’ is definitely deficient, in my opinion.
That is what a lot of people think Christianity is, but it is only a name-only version, and a poor one at that. You could call it ‘Churchianity’ with popes, priests and platitudes. Going to church now and again, a thin veneer of religiosity, having a great time at Christmas and Easter, and a bunch of religious formulas, rules and traditions.
The Bible itself is usually secondary in this whole generalisation. Most of the population of our western societies have followed that over the centuries, and this has led to much of the confusion, hypocrisy and rejection of it over the last decades.
A living relationship, not a religion
The real thing is actually a radical and personal relationship with the living God of the Bible, which has been made possible through Jesus Christ. That is why it is called Christ-ianity. It leads to a changed life, a changed attitude and a changed future.
It is dependent on ordinary people like us realising who the God of the Bible really is, that he is completely holy and pure, and that we aren’t. It goes on from there to understand and thankfully accept what Jesus, the Son of God, at great personal cost, did for us in coming to earth and giving himself on the cross in Jerusalem as a substitute for us. And this out of pure and self-denying love, something totally foreign to any other belief system in the world.
To authenticate the truth of the spiritual transaction, God then brought Jesus back to life again, just as it had been predicted.
Our wrongs
Those of us who accept that we have wronged God, by ignoring him, and also wronged other people, have the opportunity of being completely forgiven our wrongs by God. However, since it is not just a mental acceptance, but a revolutionary change from the inside, we do need to change our lifestyle, learn to love others and to live to please God.
This free gift then gives us great joy and thankfulness, so much so that we want to live for him, rather than just for our own self-centred selves.
A new life
This new life should lead to faith, hope and love, with acts of kindness, sacrifice and serving of others. History has shown that such people over the centuries have willingly served the poor, the sick, the uneducated and the down-trodden.
However, there are still deficencies, as we are still very much human!
What do you think are the main deficencies?