Very few people have truly understood the gospel. We think that the way to be a good Christian is to worship Jesus and find the right way to do it. So we invented the liturgy so that we know how to do it right. And those that are not doing it in this way are wrong. They are not good Christians. But Jesus never told us to worship him. He only said that we should follow him.
Christianity is meant to be different than this. It’s a way of living: a simple, non-violent, community-based and loving way of living. But we created all the rules and the cults so that we avoid this lifestyle altogether. We could be proud, greedy, violent and selfish and still claim that Jesus is our personal Lord and Saviour. We still call ourselves Christians.
It’s about time that we stop playing with Christianity itself. There is something much more radical than this that is calling us to a different lifestlye – that is to be like Christ.
I agree with what has been written. I have a small problem with the title. Rather than looking at my faith as a lifestyle, I see it as part of my identity; an identity which speak about who I am in relation to God as I journey to know myself, and also about who I am in relation to others and society.
ReplyDeleteThe title indicates only an emphasis not a definition. But again it is easy to identify yourself as a Christian (as most people do) without having a Christian lifestye. And that was exactly the aim of the message. Your talking about a lifestyle in which you build a relationship with God is not always present in most Catholics I know and work with as a priest. I hope I was. Clear about this point. Bless you.
ReplyDelete