Why are Christians supposed to be gentle and polite?

[Sammy-San]

Because you have to have a certain standard.

 

[A_Thinker]

Why are Christians suppose to be "gentle" and polite, and not feared? My opinion has been that Christianity looks very weak. They are told they should forgive and walk away, not want to fight back. It's leading to the chaos and fall of their own civilization too, unlike Islamic civilization which is still intact and cohesive in the modern age to this day. And they are ones that people fear. Not promoting Islam, but I'm only acknowledging what it is.

But even if you are Christian, do you also honestly wonder if Christianity is weak or at least has been weakened?

We follow Christ in His meekness ...

Matthew 5

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Matthew 11

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give rest.

29 Take My yoke upon and learn of Me, ... for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 

[Confused-by-christianity]

Why are Christians suppose to be "gentle" and polite, and not feared?

I assume God doesn't care about what other people in society "fear" but instead cares about gentleness? Maybe showing gentleness in a hellish violent world shows more of what God is looking for in our character?

My opinion has been that Christianity looks very weak. They are told they should forgive and walk away, not want to fight back.

Sometimes I think Christians look weak, but not because they don't fight. I think they look weak when they give in and hit back at their enemies. To me, hitting back sounds more like fear than standing on what you believe is God's principles - even if it kills you.

It's leading to the chaos and fall of their own civilization too,...

I'm not quick to believe that.

...unlike Islamic civilization which is still intact and cohesive in the modern age to this day. And they are ones that people fear. Not promoting Islam, but I'm only acknowledging what it is.

Muslims are in distress all over the world. From persecution to politics.

But even if you are Christian, do you also honestly wonder if Christianity is weak or at least has been weakened?

I think christians get scared and lash out. They think they are afraid of being a "soft touch" and so go on the offensive to prove they are not. I see this as normal worldly behaviour.

I think we are called to rise above it though, and not act evilly, even if it kills us. I think lots of christians dont want to do that because it's really really hard - so they don't.

 

[public hermit]

I would say, when it is all said and done, the weakness will be shown to have been great strength. The key is the apparent weakness of Christ on the cross. Here we have the supposed Son of God suffering and ultimately dying. He does nothing to defend himself. It doesn't get much weaker or more passive than that.

However, once he rises again, his appearance of weakness proves to be a display of insurmountable strength. The worst the destructive forces of evil can do is destroy life. His rising again shows the destructive forces of evil to be impotent, powerless against the strength of the God of life.

Another way to see it is that the ways of his kingdom are ultimately greater, more powerful, than the ways and means of the kingdoms of this world. The cross is their greatest show of destructive strength, and the resurrection is God's response of supreme creative power.

Christian weakness and passivity is the faith that trusts the ways of God's kingdom, as revealed through the cross and ressurection, will ultimately overcome the destructive forces of evil, violence, oppression, fear, ad nauseam. In other words, the faith says what appears as weakness in the Christian will be shown to be strength.

Whether any of that is true or not remains to be seen, but that is the faith.

 

[FireDragon76]

I would say, when it is all said and done, the weakness will be shown to have been great strength. The key is the apparent weakness of Christ on the cross. Here we have the supposed Son of God suffering and ultimately dying. He does nothing to defend himself. It doesn't get much weaker or more passive than that.

I wish it were that simple, but the religion doesn't really proclaim that in practice. Most of humanity, according to Christian orthodoxy, is going to be tortured forever for failing to believe the right things about God. All the beauty and goodness that actual human beings create with their own lives, or the people that love them, don't really matter ultimately, because they chose Allah or Buddha instead of Jesus.

 

[Confused-by-christianity]

I wish it were that simple, but the religion doesn't really proclaim that in practice. Most of humanity, according to Christian orthodoxy, is going to be tortured forever for failing to believe the right things about God. All the beauty and goodness that actual human beings create with their own lives, or the people that love them, don't really matter ultimately, because they chose Allah or Buddha instead of Jesus.

Although that view is pretty widespread within "Christianity" - Many don't believe that.

The lines of "Christianity" are pretty blurry. Lots of churches declare on the front what they adhere to, but at the individual level, many christians don't believe everyone goes to hell except themselves.

 

[FireDragon76]

Although that view is pretty widespread within "Christianity" - Many don't believe that.

The lines of "Christianity" are pretty blurry. Lots of churches declare on the front what they adhere to, but at the individual level, many christians don't believe everyone goes to hell except themselves.

The attitude is pernicious and widespread enough here in the US.

Even my former pastor, who is in a relatively liberal denomination, did not have good responses on this subject. He did admit that perhaps Christians have a very individualistic emphasis. And that's precisely my problem with this sort of mentality. People are more than individuals.

 

[Confused-by-christianity]

The attitude is pernicious and widespread enough here in the US.

Even my former pastor, who is in a relatively liberal denomination, did not have good responses on this subject. He did admit that perhaps Christians have a very individualistic emphasis. And that's precisely my problem with this sort of mentality. People are more than individuals.

Christian Universalism?

 

[FireDragon76]

Christian Universalism?

It's not a legitimate Christian belief, at least according to this website.

Having said that, I know some Unitarian Universalists and I'm probably closer to them religiously. As it is, though, I consider myself a contemplative humanist.

 

[Confused-by-christianity]

It's not a legitimate Christian belief, at least according to this website.

Having said that, I know some Unitarian Universalists and I'm probably closer to them religiously. As it is, though, I consider myself a contemplative humanist.

I’m probably somewhere around universalist ?? Possibly.

I don’t see how God could fail.

 

[Confused-by-christianity]

It's not a legitimate Christian belief, at least according to this website.

Having said that, I know some Unitarian Universalists and I'm probably closer to them religiously. As it is, though, I consider myself a contemplative humanist.

You lost your Christian Faith?

 

[Kaon]

Why are Christians suppose to be "gentle" and polite, and not feared? My opinion has been that Christianity looks very weak. They are told they should forgive and walk away, not want to fight back. It's leading to the chaos and fall of their own civilization too, unlike Islamic civilization which is still intact and cohesive in the modern age to this day. And they are ones that people fear. Not promoting Islam, but I'm only acknowledging what it is.

But even if you are Christian, do you also honestly wonder if Christianity is weak or at least has been weakened?

The confusion comes from the plethora of denominations (division) splintering into dogmatic niches in order to exploit certain leverages (power, politics, money, etc.). The idea of a pacifistic Christian works well since a follower of the Most High would know the truth, and would know how to use both spiritual and physical offensive/defensive attacks. This is always dangerous to the entities that want to rule this plane of existence. But, followers of the Redeemer were never told to be pacifists.

In fact, the Redeemer was making a commentary on the OT about revenge and justice: that it is not our job to execute justice on someone who has wronged us. This is in the general sense: if you are being robbed or your family is under attack, the Redeemer expects you to neutralize your opponent just like He expects us to do this spiritually when we are attacked.

Christians aren't supposed to be feared, but there was once a time when no one messed with holy people. Why? Because back when people were devout acolytes of their respective faiths, they gave exploit of their power based on their faith. Those "holy men" were knowledgeable in where they exist in this plane of existence (even if they weren't from the Most High). Today, Christianity is mingled so much with the world that we have gotten comfortable bounding the Most High into our logical spheres of reality.

 

[Kiwi Jane]

Gentle and polite, yes, but that doesn't mean you can't be assertive. Assertiveness and arrogant and abusive behavior are different things. Jesus was never timid in his speech.

Ephesians 5:4 - Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

1 Timothy 4:12 - Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

 

[timothyu]

But, followers of the Redeemer were never told to be pacifists.

So much for turn the other cheek and giving coats and tunics, not just shirts. The idea of treating others well is so they have no need to steal or be aggressive in order to survive. Of course today they are demanding we turn over our homes..

it is not our job to execute justice on someone who has wronged us.

True enough. In the OT all execution of justice was only at the command of God.

 

[Kaon]

So much for turn the other cheek and giving

True, because that was specifically about revenge - getting justice against someone who has wronged you. How can an imperfect being execute justice? Moreover, how can a person who has not been filled have enough to make a just decision?

We cant, and we don't; this is why we don't stone people who eat shrimp and bacon, people who lie to their children about Santa and Christmas, and/or people who are known adulterers.

coats and tunics, not just shirts.

This is charity - completely different from whether or not someone should retaliate against someone who has wronged them. The "passive Christian" is an artifact from the "Red Horse" days of Christianity - when people who were more knowledgeable in the Word of God than a bishop (for example) posed an existential threat to the Crown.

The idea of treating others well is so they have no need to steal or be aggressive in order to survive. Of course today they are demanding we turn over our homes..

This is the purpose of religion - an institution created to keep people from 1) killing each other, and (most importantly, perhaps), 2) rebelling against the respective aristocracy and/or Crown. This is another reason why Romans 13 is so (over)used when concerning the citizen and government: it has been used since the early church to keep the serfs/plebs/layperson from questioning authority and seeking out for one's self. The bible is a canonical text for which several books have been added and removed based on some persons' idea of what is heretical and holy. These people make the decision for other humans - who are responsible for their own spiritual trajectory. It is a bunch of one-eyed men leading the blind just enough so that the blind don't kill each other, and remain useful.

True enough. In the OT all execution of justice was only at the command of God.

And, yet, the Christian institution has executed justice laws in the alleged name of the Most High from the earliest days up until the creation of the States and general imperialism in the last few centuries. That is one reason why people look at Christianity with incredulity: we seem to work hard to exhibit hypocrisy and then rewrite the conditions to justify our hypocrisy.

 

[timothyu]

And, yet, the Christian institution has executed justice laws in the alleged name of the Most High from the earliest days up until the creation of the States and general imperialism in the last few centuries. That is one reason why people look at Christianity with incredulity: we seem to work hard to exhibit hypocrisy and then rewrite the conditions to justify our hypocrisy.

Ah but the Christian religion no longer spoke for God when it abandoned the Kingdom and the teachings of Jesus in order to rejoin the world of man 1700 years ago. It spoke for the self serving ways of man that is was supposed to be a counter-culture to.

 

[FireDragon76]

You lost your Christian Faith?

Yes. I no longer consider myself a Christian. I cannot agree to Christian orthodoxy's dogmas, which in my mind are almost certainly wrong to the point I cannnot agree to them fully. And at the church I was involved with (Lutheran), which was pretty much my last stop on the way out of a generally traumatic religious experience, believing in the creeds was par for the course.

 

[Tom 1]

Why are Christians suppose to be "gentle" and polite, and not feared? My opinion has been that Christianity looks very weak. They are told they should forgive and walk away, not want to fight back. It's leading to the chaos and fall of their own civilization too, unlike Islamic civilization which is still intact and cohesive in the modern age to this day. And they are ones that people fear. Not promoting Islam, but I'm only acknowledging what it is.

But even if you are Christian, do you also honestly wonder if Christianity is weak or at least has been weakened?

The Muslim world isn’t very cohesive. It’s full of conflicting factions and warring political and economic interests.

 

[FireDragon76]

The Muslim world isn’t very cohesive. It’s full of conflicting factions and warring political and economic interests.

That's true. Only about a hundred years after its founding, it descended into sectarian civil war. That's where the Sunni/Shia split comes from, and it's the source of much of the violence and terrorism in the Muslim world.

 

[timothyu]

The Muslim world isn’t very cohesive. It’s full of conflicting factions and warring political and economic interests.

Show me a religion that does not follow the same traditions of man.Christianity is certainly not free of politicized fundamentalists and it's first 1500 years were not exactly models of the Kingdom. Man is incapable of avoiding division and strife in the pursuit of power. That is why God's concept of putting others before self becomes short lived in any religion.