When asked what he as a Hindu admired most in Christianity, he responded, “Jesus.” When asked what disturbed him most in Christianity, Gandhi responded, “Christians.” He continued, “But negatively I can tell you that much of what passes as Christianity is a negation of the Sermon on the Mount.”
Louis Fischer, Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World, p. 131
That is a viewpoint of a non-Christian about Christianity. Interesting isn’t it? Gandhi’s observation suggests that Christians don’t live out the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Christians don’t act as followers of Christ. They don’t mimic Yeshua’s example in the world.
Is this true? I mean it’s only one man’s viewpoint, right? But think about it. What percentage are you conforming your life to Yeshua, and what percentage are you conforming your life to your religion? There is a difference. Most Christian religions today are not Torah observant as Yeshua was. They do not practice the same religion as Yeshua did when He walked the earth. They do not recite the same prayers that Yeshua recited as a devout Jew. They do not call their elders rabbis as the Apostles called Yeshua.
Why?
Yeshua kept every single law of God. He knew that was the proper way to live in obedience to the Father. Yeshua was considered sinless because of this. Today we embrace sin and abandon the teachings of God. In an act of self-defeat we willingly admit that we’ll continue to sin in the future, and there’s just nothing we can do about it. We choose death, not life.
No wonder most Christians are no longer a reflection of Christ in the world today. Yeshua has been successfully removed from His Jewish culture and religion by 2000+ years of antisemitism and misdirected “Christian” theology. It’s unfortunate.
The common excuse for this is that we’re spiritual now. We don’t need to keep the law physically. To those who use this excuse, I ask, was Yeshua NOT spiritual? Is that why He kept the law? Of course this argument immediately falls apart.
So maybe, just maybe, we should reexamine our lives. Maybe we should look to conform our lives to Yeshua and how He lived rather than to our religion. It’s okay to admit that our forefathers may have gotten some things wrong. It doesn’t dishonor our elders or their way of life. They were just starting out. I’m sure the forefathers that earnestly sought out truth would be thrilled to see their decedents grow and learn from their mistakes. I pray my own children grow beyond my dedication to YHVH. Most of all, let’s remember that our forefathers, and their religious traditions, are not the pinnacle of true Christianity — the pinnacle of Christianity is Yeshua himself.
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