I was reading through Andrew Sullivan‘s blog and I’m intrigued by what folks seem to think makes a Christian a Christian.
In my opinion, the only thing required to be a Christian is for an individual to consider themself so. It’s one of those “I think, therefore I am” kinds of things, as far as I can tell.
It’s been said that works don’t make a person a Christian. It’s been said that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to be good people, it just means that doing good things doesn’t make someone “righteous,” as it were.
It is also my opinion that attending weekly meetings does not make one a Christian, either. It’s been said by someone supposedly in the know that when two or more gather in the name of God, there he is. That’s not to say you shouldn’t commune with folks if it makes you happy.
Being Christian is not, IMHO, mutually exclusive with being Muslim, Jewish, Hindi, Taoist, etc, etc, etc. It’s all in the same vein. I feel that each religion is a different view of the same God. Christians seem to be a little unclear on the monotheism thing. Supposedly, it’s a monotheistic religion, but then there’s the Holy Trinity. And the RC saints which are worshiped as different views of God, if I understand correctly. This sounds an aweful lot like the Hindu concept of different faces of the same God.
The concept of namaste (नमसà¥à¤¤) is one that resonates with me as well. Jesus said (roughly) that he lives within each of us. I take this to mean that we all have a bit of God in us. If there is one God (be it with many faces or not), then it makes sense that we are all bound to one another through this spiritual connection, yes?
I’ll stop now before I bore you all. If you want more on the subject, just ask :)