Trying to behave like a Christian and not talking about it constantly

[steve2470]

What is that called ? Not being a hypocrite ? That's what I try to do. I'm sure no "model Christian" but at least I'm trying in my own quiet way, unlike the idiotic hypocrites who proclaim their faith so loudly.

[classof56]

1. I think it's called living your faith by example.

Or as I used to hear, Living with love and in a Christlike manner. You're doing good! Way to go!

Blessings.

[supernova]

2. Or doing it the Fred Rogers way

:D

[Prism]

5. Jesus was a trolley!

And the land of make believe was symbolic of heaven.

Wait. I don't think I have enough acid for this dissertation.

Oh noez.

[Swamp Rat]

34. Street car

:)

[liberal N proud]

3. I find that is is usually the ones who are proclaiming their faith loudly

are the most hypocritical.
Back when the Iraq war was just starting, a guy at church who was boasting about how good a Christian he and his wife were until I point out to him that running around bragging about the terrorist deck of cards went against true Christ like qualities.

[BOSSHOG]

4. You mean like not

having sex with your daughter before you drop her off at the Evangelical bible study class on Wednesday night on your way to the titty bar?

[steve2470]

I would have laughed but I had pizza in my mouth

:-)

[tk2kewl]

6. he who is without sin cast the first stone

[wryter2000]

7. Hear, hear!

However, I see more Christian-baiting than proselytizing around here. Of course, I don't see everything, so I could be missing what you're referring to.

[icymist]

8. What's so hard about that?

You just live up to your values, principals, and morals, regardless whether anyone applauds or boos you. It's a hard life man, and a lot have walked it.

[steve2470]

10. It's not. I just have no respect for the ones who have to talk constantly

eom

[icymist]

14. I don't understand you.

eom

[steve2470]

15. let me explain

1- Exhibit A: Guy who goes to church every Sunday, runs Bible Study every Wednesday night, and then cheats his customers Monday through Friday and treats his employees like crap.

2- Exhibit B: Guy (or woman, makes no difference) who does not go to church, never talks about his or her faith, but who tries hard to live as Christ did. He or she is an excellent person albeit a very quiet one.

Does this clarify my point ?

[Lexingtonian]

16. about them, don't forget

Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt. It is when we are unsure that we are doubly sure.

Reinhold Niebuhr
US Protestant theologian (1892 - 1971)

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

Susan B Anthony
reformer and suffragist (1820-1906) (and Quaker, btw)

[TWiley]

9. You would not be a good Christian.

Evidently, the primary purpose is to recruit others. If you do not talk about it incessently, and pass out those little comic books, then wouldn't you be missing the mark?

[GeorgeBushytail]

11. What does "Christian" mean?

That's the crux. Cherry-pick the Bible and any position from killing heretics to keeping slaves to living communally are all Christian.

Fred Phelps is sure he's the only Christian in the world because he's found passages in the christian magic book that tell him to kill gays.

[Hamlette]

12. my signature line on another site which had too many bible thumpers was:

"Don't tell me you're a Christian, let me figure it out for myself."

They left me alone.

[steve2470]

13. Excellent point ! nt

[Garth Beaumont]

31. Very Nice

I'll use that one!

[ArkDem]

33. How do you know that was the reason? Maybe they just didn't

like you...

[Hamlette]

35. what's not to like?

well, yeah, could of been that too.

[BigMcLargehuge]

17. I have faith... that this thread will burst into an inferno

And I can't look away!

[catmandu57]

18. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?

Do unto others in kindness and don't flap your gums abvout it, live by example.

[thereismore]

19. Matthew 6

5 When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:5,6

[CityZen-X]

20. Constantinian vs. Prophetic

"Back during Roman rule, when the growth of Christianity couldn't be stopped, the Roman empire co-opted it. With Constantine's conversion, a terrible co-joining of church and state was institutionalized from which the religion and many of it's victims, especially Jews, have suffered ever since. Constantinian Christianity has always been at odds with the prophetic legacy of Jesus Christ".

Cornel West (Democracy Matters)

The fudi-mental Christians in this country are Constantinian Christians, and are at odds with the teachings of Yashua. No matter how you feel about Yashua, you have to admit no other being on this Earth has influenced mankind to the likes of J.C. His beatitudes rock, and if we go about practicing them in a humble way, the world will be a better place.

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. "...no other being on this Earth has influenced mankind to the

likes of J.C."

I don't know. I'd call it a three-way tie, with Mohammed and the Buddha.

[CityZen-X]

23. A Tie Indeed!

The other two did have a lot of influence on mankind, equally so.

[GeorgeBushytail]

27. I'd add Ghengis Khan

For good and ill as with the other 3.

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. Good point.

Wasn't he the one with 400 wives, across his empire? Could literally be called the "Father of Eastern Europe".

[ArkDem]

25. Wasn't 'buddha' the sound Sgt. Rock's thompson made in the

comic book?

[DerekG]

22. Yes. Constantianian vs. Prophetic is preferable to Paulist vs. Christian

The legacy of St. Paul is mixed (far too many DUers overlook the good he did); Emperor Constantine, on the other hand, was a butcher and tyrant, who converted to the faith out of political expediency. By wedding the persona of Christ to the unholy state, Constantine inflicted a wound that has festered for some seventeen hundred years.

And "Democracy Matters" is a wonderful book; West's admiration for Emerson was particularly touching.

[CityZen-X]

28. Democracy Matters

"Constantine himself seems to have converted to Christianity partly out of political strategy and imperial exigency, and then proceeded to use the cloak of Christianity for his own purposes of maintaining power".

Ominous parallels wouldn't you say, just like the Constantinian Chimp!

[DerekG]

30. History may very well place Bush in a very insidious pantheon

Bush is the kind of zealot hatched out of Dostoevsky and Twain's "Letters from the Earth": a big league X-tian, in the vein of Constantine, Innocent III, and Cromwell. "A wolf in sheep's clothing" does not do justice to #43.

The sooner we Christians deal with these Constantinians, the better.

[ArkDem]

24. That's the way Christ and the apostles did it.

[Beer Snob-50]

26. far too many "christians" out there giving christians a bad name

fred, jerry, pat and shrub to start. how about just setting a good example and love one another as you would want to be loved. that is the basic message of most faiths.

[Bluerthanblue]

32. living out loud...

or, after watching the sixths sense,

"I see live people"....

[Lefty48197]

36. Paraphrasing from the Book of Matthew:

...and when you pray, stand not on the street corners, like the hypocrites do, for they love to be seen, rather, when you pray, go into your closet, and pray in private, and you shall be heard.