Why do I feel like Jesus is slowly but surely being taken out of Christianity?

Junia

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I just feel like, for instance, through Church services, and any other forum of Christanity, that Jesus is slowly being forgotten. I just feel like Jesus is being watered down a lot. Can't just be me?

i hear ya. the Jesus n the Bible is someone who has comapssion for us, is about love, grae and truth and i feel there is so much legalism in many churches. makes me feel sad.
 
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JI4M

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i hear ya. the Jesus n the Bible is someone who has comapssion for us, is about love, grae and truth and i feel there is so much legalism in many churches. makes me feel sad.

I'm not quite sure if you and I are talking about the same thing?
 
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Junia

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I'm not quite sure if you and I are talking about the same thing?

ok, then. what are your thoughts on it? i am not from same culture or nation as you though, so our takes may be different. i think the state of the church in the US is very different from the UK.
 
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Junia

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in the UK, not all churches, but some there seems to be les emphasis on just doing what Jesus wants and more about religion, what traditions and customs say. where Jesus was about social justice, forgiveness, healing, casting out demons not doctrinal differences?
 
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Junia

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I just feel like, for instance, through Church services, and any other forum of Christanity, that Jesus is slowly being forgotten. I just feel like Jesus is being watered down a lot. Can't just be me?

the gospel is very good news but so many churches put it down by adding "BUT..." the gospel was never about meeting a standard of perfection. it was about letting Jesus transform into His likeness
 
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Junia

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Hello. I don't think it's just you. But I think it's expected, considering the hour we're living in, and what scripture has to say about it.

you'd probably be better able to give an answer to the OPs qquestion than me as you are from the US and so would have better understanding of the church there. this looks to be an informative thread fro outsiders such as myself
 
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Gentle Lamb

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I just feel like, for instance, through Church services, and any other forum of Christanity, that Jesus is slowly being forgotten. I just feel like Jesus is being watered down a lot. Can't just be me?

This is most likely to be tied to the falling away described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - "...for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first..." Sin causes us not to want to accept the principles of Jesus Christ and so things are changed to be more "tolerant" and "acceptable" because we have "itching ears" as referenced in 2 Timothy 4:3. This leads to a watering down of the gospel truth that Jesus Christ came to preach to us to save us from our sins.
 
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Albion

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the gospel is very good news but so many churches put it down by adding "BUT..." the gospel was never about meeting a standard of perfection. it was about letting Jesus transform into His likeness
It sounds now that you aren't concerned that Jesus is being taken out of Christianity exactly but that some of what Jesus taught you like and some of the rest that he taught you don't care for, so the latter is dismissed as "traditions and customs."

If so, then the solution IS, as I suggested before, to switch churches. There certainly are those which hold views similar to yours.
 
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Rachel20

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you'd probably be better able to give an answer to the OPs qquestion than me as you are from the US and so would have better understanding of the church there. this looks to be an informative thread fro outsiders such as myself

What I'm thinking of would probably be manifesting everywhere - the church leaving it's first love or becoming luke warm (Revelation 2:4, Revelation 3:15). With the passing of so many saints recently, and so many from a whole generation, I wonder if I'm not seeing the church of Philadelphia being kept from the hour of trial that's coming (Revelation 3:10)
 
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Junia

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What I'm thinking of would probably be manifesting everywhere - the church leaving it's first love or becoming luke warm (Revelation 2:4, Revelation 3:15). With the passing of so many saints recently, and so many from a whole generation, I wonder if I'm not seeing the church of Philadelphia being kept from the hour of trial that's coming (Revelation 3:10)

that i sinteresting because what i wrote in my first couple posts on this thread is describing what i would call lukewarmness. the centre being on religion not on jesus and what he did for us on the cross. lukewarmness is turning from God's grace and trying to earn salvation by good works
 
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Junia

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It sounds now that you aren't concerned that Jesus is being taken out of Christianity exactly but that some of what Jesus taught you like and some of the rest that he taught you don't care for, so the latter is dismissed as "traditions and customs."

If so, then the solution IS, as I suggested before, to switch churches. There certainly are those which hold views similar to yours.

are there? if so, what churches? what denomiantions are they and how do i join them?

i never said i didnt care for anything Jesus taught. quite th eopposite- Jesus taught mercy, compassion, justice, loving one another. those are the important things. we are not under the other things any more. i just want a simple New Testament style faith where it is not about OUR workd or how good we are but how Jesus wants us to live. whic is to rest on His finished works on the cross and live in the power of His holy spirit, healing the sick, casting out demons etc ac hurch likw the one in Acts is the kind of church am going for.
 
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Junia

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It sounds now that you aren't concerned that Jesus is being taken out of Christianity exactly but that some of what Jesus taught you like and some of the rest that he taught you don't care for, so the latter is dismissed as "traditions and customs."

If so, then the solution IS, as I suggested before, to switch churches. There certainly are those which hold views similar to yours.

sorry but when w come to Jesus we receive His forgiveness and then move on from our past sins, and letting God transforme us into His likeness. it is al good news....we have been saved from the bad stuff....i want apositve faith that affirms my identity in Christ. not makes me feel fear or condemnation.
 
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Albion

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are there? if so, what churches? what denominations are they and how do i join them?
One problem is that you are UK and I am speaking as an American. Still in all, the legal names are mainly what might be different, not the important facts.

The Unitarians immediately come to mind. They've merged with the Universalists into the Unitarian Universalist Assn. Also, there are certain branches of the Quakers (Society of Friends). Among the more mainline churches, the most obvious choice would be the United Church of Christ, formerly known as the Congregationalists.

And then there are the Methodists. Methodism might or might not work for you, but the famous appeal of John Wesley and Methodism is to live like a Christian ought, which accounts for their great emphasis upon peace advocacy, work among the homeless, hospitals and similar institutions, education, etc. etc.

There are also some smaller religious groups like the Swedenborgians and Ethical School. All have the emphases I think you want. How to join varies from one to another, but some, such as the Unitarians, are as easy as can be in that area. Just inquire.

i never said i didnt care for anything Jesus taught. quite th eopposite- Jesus taught mercy, compassion, justice, loving one another. those are the important things.
Yes, but he also taught about--and commanded in some cases--matters that you dismissed as tradition and custom only. Baptism, for instance. Reception of the Lord's Supper, study in the Scriptures, and so on.
 
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Junia

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One problem is that you are UK and I am speaking as an American about American denominations. Still in all, there connections across the Atlantic are many.

The Unitarians immediately come to mind. They've merged with the Universalists into the Unitarian Universalist Assn. Also, there are certain branches of the Quakers (Society of Friends). Among the more mainline churches, the most obvious choice would be the United Church of Christ, formerly known as the Congregationalists.

And then there are the Methodists. Methodism might or might not work for you, but the famous appeal of John Wesley and Methodism is to live like a Christian ought, which accounts for their great emphasis upon peace advocacy, work among the homeless, hospitals and similar institutions, education, etc. etc.

There are also some smaller religious groups like the Swedenborgians and Ethical Science. All have the emphases I think you want. How to join varies from one to another, but some, such as the Unitarians, are as easy as can be in that area. Just inquire.


Yes, but he also taught about--and commanded in some cases--matters that you dismissed as tradition and custom only. Baptism, for instance. Reception of the Lord's Supper, study in the Scriptures, and so on.

oh, i never dismissed those! i have never dismissd those. when i menat tradition i meant things like dress codes, women priests being forbidden,. all of those things.because they no longer apply to this day and age. the things you mentioned like baptism, communion, bible etc were commnaded....i have never had an issue with baptism (i am baptised) or communion (even now in lockdown i take it via a chat room and we all pray and take it together in our homes) etc
 
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Junia

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not sure whther Unitarians believe in salvation through faith though? i stick to the biblical idea of salvation being by Jesus and faith in Him. and then after we saved we obey his commnads to be baptised etc but many churches say we have to do more than that to be accepted, and i think that would be a bit heavy for me as someone who struggles already with a huge amount of fear and condemnation? but thanks anyway. helpful suggestions.
 
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I just feel like, for instance, through Church services, and any other forum of Christanity, that Jesus is slowly being forgotten. I just feel like Jesus is being watered down a lot. Can't just be me?

Well, to be quite frank, it's because that is what's happening.

Jesus is an inconvenience to power, and when men replace the cross with power and glory Jesus has to go, or else be shelved to a comfortable place in the back.

When religion is coopted by power, the result is always power crushing religion.

Eberhard Bethge was a student, then friend, and later biographer of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, it is thanks to Bethge that the writings of Bonhoeffer were not lost after his death at the hands of the Nazis in 1945.

In the early 1980's while the Bethge and his family were in the United States, they were invited to and visited Lynchburg, Virginia by Jerry Falwell, this is how Bethge recounts that experience:

"As we entered the foyer, an usher stepped forward and gave me two badges to fasten to my lapel: the one on the left said, Jesus First and on the right, one with an American flag ... I could not help but think myself in Germany in 1933 ... Of course, Christ, but a German Christ; of course, `Jesus First', but an American Jesus! And so to the long history of faith and its executors another chapter is being added of a mixed image of Christ, of another syncretism on the American model, undisturbed by any knowledge of that centuries-long and sad history." - John W. De Gruchy. Daring, Trusting Spirit: Bonhoeffer's Friend Eberhard Bethge (Kindle Locations 2091-2093). Kindle Edition.

That was nearly forty years ago.

If you want to know by what Bethge means by speaking of "a German Christ", look up "Positive Christianity", the Deutsche Christen movement, and the German Reichskirche.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Confusedconfusion

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I just feel like, for instance, through Church services, and any other forum of Christanity, that Jesus is slowly being forgotten. I just feel like Jesus is being watered down a lot. Can't just be me?
Because he is , Bible says that there will be falling away from faith
 
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