Christians

[dogs4thewin]

What is so different some Christians are WAY different but some it is just like what is so different???

 

[seashale76]

What is so different some Christians are WAY different but some it is just like what is so different???

Please clarify. I'm having difficulty understanding what you're asking here.

 

[dogs4thewin]

Please clarify. I'm having difficulty understanding what you're asking here.

Why is it that some Christians seem to be no different than anyone else.

 

[seashale76]

Why is it that some Christians seem to be no different than anyone else.

Oh, okay. Well, I'd say the majority of Christians (if we're being honest) only see their faith as cultural, or as a means of feeling better about themselves in some fashion (boils down to pride). However, I don't think most people actively think of it this way. Most people aren't all that introspective generally. This doesn't mean they aren't or can't be nice and that non-Christians aren't nice, but just being nice or like everyone else isn't the goal they should be working toward. One must also take into account that everyone (Christian and non-Christian) is at a different place on their journey.

In Orthodox Christianity, we look at the Church as being the hospital for sinners with Christ as the Great Physician, and the body and blood of Christ as the medicine for what ails us. The Church is specifically there to help those in it corporately. However, how seriously each individual takes things to heart is their own decision at some point, and everyone decides every day whether they are with the program or not and endures to the end.

 

[Sketcher]

Well, you may be looking at backsliders. Or you may be looking at someone who was a genuinely horrible person before conversion who has been brought up to the standard level of decency after conversion (though in such a case, I would have to believe that something is different about such a person).

 

[ForJesusChrist]

Because they don't know how to truly be a Christian.

 

[bling]

Good observation, please keep looking.

 

[paul1149]

you may be looking at backsliders. Or you may be looking at someone who was a genuinely horrible person before conversion who has been brought up to the standard level of decency after conversion (

We're all individuals at different levels. This is why we're strongly warned against judging by appearances. Isaiah said of Jesus that "a bruised reed He will not break; smoldering flaxen He will not extinguish". We can be pretty messed up on the outside, but God can be doing a deep work in us nonetheless. It just hasn't become manifest yet.

There's another factor at work also. The church is not where it should be. If you look at the Book of Acts, there was an incredible spirit of love and holiness in operation then. So much so that the oppressed church in Jerusalem operated like a commune, sharing possessions according to need and ability to give. And when two fake disciples violated that spirit God publicly struck them down.

Nowadays becoming a Christian in the West is often done in name only, or handed down generationally, and is not considered a total commitment of life and soul. Or worse, someone might claim Christianity in order to advance selfish interests. Even toward the end of the Book of Acts Paul warned that wolves would come in and ravage the flock. Many of the epistles echo that that reality had already come. And church history bears this out.

If you go to somewhere like China, chances are you'll find a different reality. There it can cost to be a Christian, even cost greatly, so only the sincere tend to apply, let alone stay the course. You might find more contrast between the Christian and non-Christian there, and as suffering adversity according to conscience builds character, a greater prevalence of the marks of a Christian. (2Pe 1.2-7)

 

[1watchman]

Some good thoughts here! I have seen over the 60 years of my walk with my Lord that many who say: "Lord, Lord" are not of Christ as He said. There is a great difference between one who is trying to be a Christian by following the teachings of God, and one who has repented before God and received His Son for salvation. The latter will be "born again" by the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit --true salvation and birth as a "child of God". Something to consider???