Pray tell, What is a REAL Christian?

I am not the religious type at all, but I do feel the core teachings of the Christ make sense in a very inaccessible way to the common every day man . However, I keep seeing the title "Real Christian" being tossed around left and right around these forums but...what makes a Christian "real"? Because everyone and their mother claims to be a real Christian but it seems to me like it's an awfully difficult and special accomplishment to become one of such enlightenment.

so

*Is it an individual who tries their best to follow the steps of The Christ but recognizes the evils of organized religion?
*Is it someone that follows the commandments, obeys the pastor, goes to church, pays tithe and memorizes the bible?
*Is it the one that believes Jesus is the only way to salvation?
*Is it somebody that works hard to learn to forgive, practice mercy and enter through the narrow gate regardless of denomination?
*Is it someone who is not afraid to rebuke the gays, liberals, atheists, heretics, abortionists and all other sinners?
*Is it just another delusional, self-righteous, I'm right-your wrong, self-appointed title?
*It is impossible for a human being to reach this level of enlightenment.

.

When I meet one, I'll let you know.

A real christian, feeds the poor and clothes the hungry, and they love their enemy, love their neighbor

‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

A true christian follows the original teachings of Christ not the perverted version the church created. But what do I know I'm more or less atheist. My last hope in a god died with my father.

Originally posted by JudgedCover
When I meet one, I'll let you know.

Correct, they are just human, they are not Christ.

There are good Christians out there, but they fall/fail just like everyone else on this planet.

From what I gathered from previous church experience is that Baptist are the real Christians, every one else is wrong and going to hell. That's why I don't associate with Christianity anymore.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
A real christian, feeds the poor and clothes the hungry, and they love their enemy, love their neighbor

‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

edit on 093131p://bThursday2010 by Stormdancer777 because: (no reason given)

Then according to this beautiful scripture a charitable Atheist or Buddhist can be a "true" Christian too no?

Originally posted by Xiamara
A true christian follows the original teachings of Christ not the perverted version the church created. But what do I know I'm more or less atheist. My last hope in a god died with my father.

So would you agree that an Atheist can do a good job at being a follower of the Christ even if he doesn't believe in the actual person of the Christ?

Well I dont really know what a christian is and nor do they them selves. I thought the god thing gave us 10 commandments or rules? What Id like to know is, which if any religion obey these rules? Christians certainly dont follow the god things rules. It seems that they nake it up as they go along.

a real christian imo is someone who lives by the teachings of god, who opens his heart to him and his/her fellow man, who lives their lives as best they can and helps spread the word of the lord.

we all sin, but we have to ask for forgivness and be washed by the blood of jesus, a real christian is someone who doesnt condemn others for their opinions, who is willing to listen and love everyone regardless of thier sins or wrong doings.

im a catholic and i love god, and i know that he loves all of his children, we shouldnt be fighting one another in wars, as we are all from the same flesh, our bodys mere vessels that house our souls, and when the time comes we will leave our vessels and if we have repented our sins our souls will join god in heaven and we will live a life of eternal happiness.

but those ..ie the NWO the ones that deny god and choose to worship satan will spend an eternity in flames.

so dont worry whats happening here on earth, everything that has come to pass, has to do so before the rapture comes and those who have the love of god in thier hearts will be saved.

ill pop a link to the recent thread i made reagarding god and all the facts that were prophesised and that have come to pass...maybe it will enlighten you..or at least that is my hope.

god bless you

abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Isawsomething

My opinion:
A real Christian is someone who has a relationship with Christ and is not concerned with denominations and religion.
A person who lives by grace without hiding behind it to justify sin.
A person who prayerfully studies God's Word and looks to the Holy Spirit for interpretation, and then applies what has learned to his/her life.
A person who has compassion on others and does good works, especially toward the less fortunate.
A person who does not judge others.
A person who can forgive when hurt.
A person who tries, by God's grace, to love everyone.
A person who has faith in God and His teachings and wisely shares that faith when the opportunity presents itself.
A person that can be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove when dealing with others.
A person that not only talks the the talk, but walks the walk.
A person that lives such a life that they do not have to "tell" you that they are a Christian, but you know it anyway.
A person that I'd like to be, but sadly am not.

Seeashrink

reply to post by Isawsomething


I do. I think if you are a christian you should accept others no matter what they believe. Only a true god would accept all and love all who are good people.

My Friend,

I do not consider myself a Christian, but I do follow Christ's teachings. I do not consider myself a Christian because I do not like labels, nor do I like the box that those labels apply to. So, let me illustrate what I mean by following Christs teachings.

"Love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself" The Commandments of Jesus Christ.

Love God - God is the whole of this existence of which I am just a small part. To love God is to cherish every aspect of this existence. There is no "evil" for everything is part of the perfect whole. God is everything, and I am deeply in love with it.

Love your neighbor - My neighbor is everyone outside my body. To love them as you would love yourself is to see that they too fall in love with this experience of being. Therefore I feel it is my duty to them to share all that I have that we may experience this life together.

I do not try to define God more than acknowledging that it is everything. There is no right and wrong in describing the unseen. If all had eyes like me they would see God everywhere there eyes came to rest. They world hear his voice in every sound brought to ear. I know by this that each has a divine right to know God on their terms, so all I can do is share my view.

I do not wait for heaven in an after life. I walk in heaven in the here and now.

As for perfection? We are all perfect just the way God made us! It is a shame no one sees this.

With Love,

Your Brother

reply to post by Isawsomething
The short answer is no.

*Is it an individual who tries their best to follow the steps of The Christ but recognizes the evils of organized religion?

No, to those Jesus "Depart from me, I never knew you."

*Is it someone that follows the commandments, obeys the pastor, goes to church, pays tithe and memorizes the bible?

No, that is following the "Law"

*Is it the one that believes Jesus is the only way to salvation?

Partially, yes.

*Is it somebody that works hard to learn to forgive, practice mercy and enter through the narrow gate regardless of denomination?

To a degree, yes; but no.

*Is it someone who is not afraid to rebuke the gays, liberals, atheists, heretics, abortionists and all other sinners?

No. Jesus said, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", and "judge not, lest ye be judged" and "how can you judge your brother for the speck in his eye when you have a beam in your own?"

*Is it just another delusional, self-righteous, I'm right-your wrong, self-appointed title?

No

*It is impossible for a human being to reach this level of enlightenment.

Apart from Jesus and the holy spirit, yes.

In my opinion "A True Christian":
1) Acknowledges Jesus as the way the truth and the life
2) Recognizes his own sin and his inability to "fix himself"
3) Recognizes that on his best day he cannot even approach the throne of god. Our best deeds and thoughts are as filthy rags.
4) Accepts the gift of salvation and receives the cleansing blood of Christ
5) Repents of his sin
6) Takes up his cross of battle against sin and flesh on a daily basis
7) Fails and falls to temptation, but again calls upon the mercy of Christ to pick him up and put him once again upon the true path
8) Hates sin with all his might, but loves sinners with the heart of the father
9) Loves his brothers and sisters(all people) so much, that he cannot stop himself from trying to introduce the lost to Christ.
10) Lives his life with a sense of thanksgiving.
11)Gives back as he is able as a result of the workings of the spirit in his heart.

There is more, but I am also imperfect and less than all knowing.

Originally posted by Xiamara
A true christian follows the original teachings of Christ not the perverted version the church created. But what do I know I'm more or less atheist. My last hope in a god died with my father.

I'm intrigued by your answer in reference to your father. I too lost my father when I was young, eleven to be exact, and I have questioned God often as to why. I'm 54 now and it still hurts and I still question to this day, but it has not made me question God's existence. I am not critizing, I understand, I'm just curious.
Seeashrink

reply to post by Xiamara
God does love us all, but above all things HE is HOLY. He cannot abide sin. Sin and the sinful cannot abide his presence. That is why only the blood of Christ can save us.

I 'investigated' several different forms of christianity and immedietely discounted the branches that claimed they were right and everyone else was wrong. There was a certain smugness about them I found difficult to equate with the 'love thy neighbour' thing. Most of the others I discount because they can't even follow the basic commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' - all kind of weird resoning is used to justify killing 'in God's name'?? The evangelical version of the bible even goes so far as to change the wording to 'thou shalt not murder'. No offence to the catholics on the thread - but the commandments also instruct us not to worship false idols - and the catholic church is stock full of them.

The best branch of christianity I've come across is the salvation army. They put the teachings into practice.

reply to post by seeashrink


My father was a good Catholic good man and all he was only met with grief. As well every time I need help from god I get the opposite. I was suicidal and in need of god god did not come. I needed guidance from god, god did nothing. When I was finally happy in life god took my father. My father prayed and went to church every weekend and prayed that his life would turn around and it finally was then god took him.

I have no faith I have faith only in my direct actions.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I think yourself (as well some of the others here) have came pretty close in the definitions you give. Don't forget the whole "Judge Not lest You Also Be Judged" and the "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" thing.

Many who call themselves Christians are apt to forget these and pretty much run around judging and tossing stones all the day long.

Many forget this in Jesus' teachings and I wonder if some Christians would accept Christ if he walked today given his teachings and usual flock. I honestly think that many who say they are Christians would reject Christ if he came to their town today. To quote an old country song by George Jones.

Would They Love Him Down in Shreveport? - George Jones

If they saw Him riding in, long hair flying in the wind,
Would they love Him down in Shreveport today?
If they heard He was a Jew and a Palestinian too,
Would they love Him down in Nashville today?

If they saw Him talk with ease
To the junkies, whores, and thieves,
Would they love Him out in Wichita today?
Would the rich men think it funny
If He said give up your money?
Would they love Him up on Wall Street today?

As you also point out, what some Christians (and many of their detractors) forget is that there is no perfect Christian walking the face of the earth. All are human and therefore all will make mistakes. Just as there is likely no perfect Muslim, Buddhist, etc.. Being human, many Christians will not like to admit the ways they fall short, and the world will love to focus only on the shortcomings.

My two cents would be that a real Christian would be one who follows, the best that they can, day in and day, the teachings of Christ. They'll stray and make mistakes because they are human - but they keep trying to love God and their neighbors.

Jesus himself actually summed it up...

Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

That is the crux of it right there.

Hmmm.. I've quoted George Jones and Jesus all in the same post. I wonder how many times that has been done here?

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek, and forgiveness. Does god no abide this? I think not. God is selfish, its illogical and hypocritical to tell your followers to be forgiving and kind yet god condemns non Christians to hell even if they were good people, yet a rapist can repent and go to heaven. Its preaching to a self absorbed god in my opinion,

A true christian knows this and acknowledges that all good people deserve to go to heaven.