Mahatma Gandhi – Follower of Christ_______________________
Knowing Jesus can change a person’s life
forever… When I became a Christian what troubled me was the question –
“Which denomination do you belong to?”
“Which church do you go to?” (Which is an
indirect question to know which denomination one belongs to)
All I knew when I accepted Christ was –
Christ… and his living word – “Bible”… I thought and still believe that is enough
to be a believer in Christ… Why categorize yourself under any other
denomination…
It’s easy and tough at the same time to
follow Jesus... Confused haan…
Easy because knowing Christ you become
free… you see life from a very different point of view… You just can’t hate
anyone or anything anymore… your priorities start and end with Christ… which
means it sets all other worldly priorities in place… Everything becomes
beautiful… and life becomes easy…
Tough because it’s not easy to follow
Jesus… He says simple things… but those simple things are seen as foolishness
in the oh so modern generation today… Following Jesus does not mean going to
church every Sunday…. It’s definitely much more than that… Jesus becomes center
of your home…center of decisions you make…center of your life… You just can’t
leave him at the altar… everything you do you need to pray about it…. Get His
approval… in short let Jesus run your life and you would have to stop taking
control …. Above all… all people should see Christ through you… your life
should define Him… His light should shine through you… Now that’s tough right?….
Recently I came to know about how Gandhi
was influenced by Christ… Trust me he was influenced by Christ not any denomination of
Christianity… All I knew until earlier was He loved the hymn – “Abide with me”…
which is one of my all-time favorites too… But here’s small story how Gandhi
encountered Christ…
Gandhi had a very close connection with Christianity
and admired Jesus very much, often quoting from his favorite 'Sermon on the
Mount' chapter in Mathew 5–7.
When the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, "Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"
Gandhi replied, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ."
“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today,” he added.
Gandhi's closeness with Christianity began when he was a young man practicing law in South Africa. Apart from being attached with the Christian faith, he intently studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was also seriously exploring becoming a Christian, which led him to his discovery of a small church gathering in his locality.
These strongly entrenched Biblical teachings have always acted a panacea to many of India's problems during its freedom struggle.
After deciding to attend the church service in South Africa, he came across a racial barrier, the church barred his way at the door. "Where do you think you're going, kaffir?" an English man asked Gandhi in a belligerent tone.
Gandhi replied, "I'd like to attend worship here."
The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the steps."
This infamous incident forced Gandhi to never again consider being a Christian, but rather adopt what he found in Christianity and its founder Jesus Christ.
“A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance. The fragrance is its own sermon…the fragrance of religious and spiritual life is much finer and subtler than that of the rose.”
When the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, "Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"
Gandhi replied, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ."
“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today,” he added.
Gandhi's closeness with Christianity began when he was a young man practicing law in South Africa. Apart from being attached with the Christian faith, he intently studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was also seriously exploring becoming a Christian, which led him to his discovery of a small church gathering in his locality.
These strongly entrenched Biblical teachings have always acted a panacea to many of India's problems during its freedom struggle.
After deciding to attend the church service in South Africa, he came across a racial barrier, the church barred his way at the door. "Where do you think you're going, kaffir?" an English man asked Gandhi in a belligerent tone.
Gandhi replied, "I'd like to attend worship here."
The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the steps."
This infamous incident forced Gandhi to never again consider being a Christian, but rather adopt what he found in Christianity and its founder Jesus Christ.
“A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance. The fragrance is its own sermon…the fragrance of religious and spiritual life is much finer and subtler than that of the rose.”
Indeed its tough to follow teachings of Christ…
Mahatma Gandhi is the living example… and one more thing is portrayed in the
story above is how the people in South Africa did not let him into the Church… They
did not live the word of God in their daily life… maybe in the Church during their service… they
tried to take a person away from Church… but they could not take him away from Christ…And
that’s most important right…
Somewhere deep down I always thought that such nonviolent behavior of Mahatma Gandhi indeed has influence from someone… But didn't know that someone was – Jesus…
Somewhere deep down I always thought that such nonviolent behavior of Mahatma Gandhi indeed has influence from someone… But didn't know that someone was – Jesus…
Time to ask yourself… Who am I? Lover of
Christ and his word - Bible…Or lover of any denomination?
_______________________Rashmi(4th June, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment