is contemporary christianity vain?

[jordyn]

having started following Abraham's God i've come up to a lot of contention with, other christians that seem to miss the mark Jesus set yet are rather keen on telling you about Him.  I suppose my most immediate disdain is the roman catholic church, they're a good example.  The "voice" of God, rulers of his will and judgement, say some prayers and the priest says you're forgiven, many place themselves above God with the assurance of forgiveness from a man they decree is more holy.

i was in another religious discussion and it was pointed out that religion is confusing, in my opinion religion is not...you believe, you do guided by a group ideal; however christianity is awfully confusing, especially if you try to think like Christ, as it's stated in bibles.  Each leader states his/her is more correct than others, yet they're so influenced by personal bias that how is it possible to really speak for a: homeless, poor, transient that had high ideals and beliefs that humanity could be more than the primitive apes with intelligence, as a god trapped in a human body!   Deriving their judgements from grumpy jewish patriarchs that had issues of their own, not to mention the volatile environment that christianity started in, so how can any one leader from any one denomination tell another, they know?

these and many other points that i'm sure will be mentioned are pretty crucial as to how christianity is perceived by, for lack of a better word; gentiles are my reasons for questioning the vanity of modern christianity, especially when compared to Jesus or even Abraham; on a further point...is there anything that can be done to take it back to what it was and less about what the greco roman empire made it?

please keep this thread kind, i myself am a christian and worship the old testament god that popped up to the son of an idol maker and called him out of a land of sacrifice, He seems to be particularly fond of pretty, intelligent nomads full of talent, love and faith that leave everything for Him,  so don't piss me off.   

[bhambrice]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vain

vain  (vn)

1. Not yielding the desired outcome; fruitless: a vain attempt.
2. Lacking substance or worth: vain talk.
3. Excessively proud of one's appearance or accomplishments; conceited.
4. Archaic Foolish.

In my opinion, true Christianity is neither fruitless, worthless or foolish. Unfortunately, Christians as a whole tend to be a bit conceited. "Look what I have done" mentality is not what we should be striving for.

As an ex-Catholic, I understand the disdain. Especially, in light of the sexual abuse cases that got a slap on the wrist. Christianity does not equal Roman Catholicism. Many good spiritual leaders of churches are spiritually led to do the right things and teach the right things.
"gentiles" have a hard time understanding about the history of Christianity. The people in the old and new testament lived out their faith and thereby received  help from above. To do the same thing as they did would be extremely challenging.

[jordyn]

oddly enough, i'm more angered by their idolatry, the sex scandals are really nothing new, even for their church...they're just openly hypocritical about it now.

[Muerte]

  Ahh modern religion, what can I say?   Oh I know!  Politicians cloaked in the guise of righteousness herding the masses of empty head sheep whom are incapable of self contemplation. 

  Now I know not all Christians are as empty headed as all the others, but you guys are the minority.  And minorities very rarely are able to sway the majority.  The majority listen to what comes spewing from those above and take it as truth.  No one questions any more, and if they do they are attacked as blasphemers.  You dare question us???  Begone from here, you are here by excommunicated!  The true followers of Christ do so in their hearts, not in a building.

[oldbill4823]

Jordyn you mentioned trying to think the same way about things as Jesus.  This would seem to be the closest we could get to truly following his teachings and living as he prescribed. If only there was a direct mental download in order to have this instantly.
Funnily enough this was attempted by the second generation of Neuro Linguistic programmers who modelled the mind of Jesus so that it could be easily installed and replicated by people who were interested.  They studied his actions from the bible and mapped out his over-arching beliefs, responses,  ideas, emotional states, etc. They then started to integrate these into their own minds and lived this model. This seems to me a very objective and full way of being Christian.
Connie Rae Andreas was one of the main creators. You can find her work very quickly after a quick search on the net. 

On the subject of idolatry of Roman Catholicism compared to the purity of simply worshipping Abrahams God, well i see similarities between this and Buddhism. Buddhism starts with Hinyana, simple negation of all thoughts to achieve enlightenment. Later developments were Mahayana and Tantra which start to work at a more esoteric level. They are in effect the same thing though. The successful culmination of all these trainings leads to a very similar way of being in the world.

Lastly, surely disdain towards others is just a sign that is still a part of you that thinks it knows more. That is in itself just a sign that there is a part of you that is lacking Christs vision.
I think of it like this, if their esoteric idolatry helps them achieve the mind of christ then it is useful and worthy thing to follow. I know in myself that i find it difficult to follow very simple instructions. I often need things spiced up a little to hold my attention. That is just the way my psychological make-up is. Much like any genetic predispositions i might have. Why hate those of us who need crutches to limp our way towards God?

[jordyn]

Jordyn you mentioned trying to think the same way about things as Jesus.  This would seem to be the closest we could get to truly following his teachings and living as he prescribed. If only there was a direct mental download in order to have this instantly.
Funnily enough this was attempted by the second generation of Neuro Linguistic programmers who modelled the mind of Jesus so that it could be easily installed and replicated by people who were interested.  They studied his actions from the bible and mapped out his over-arching beliefs, responses,  ideas, emotional states, etc. They then started to integrate these into their own minds and lived this model. This seems to me a very objective and full way of being Christian.
Connie Rae Andreas was one of the main creators. You can find her work very quickly after a quick search on the net. 

On the subject of idolatry of Roman Catholicism compared to the purity of simply worshipping Abrahams God, well i see similarities between this and Buddhism. Buddhism starts with Hinyana, simple negation of all thoughts to achieve enlightenment. Later developments were Mahayana and Tantra which start to work at a more esoteric level. They are in effect the same thing though. The successful culmination of all these trainings leads to a very similar way of being in the world.

Lastly, surely disdain towards others is just a sign that is still a part of you that thinks it knows more. That is in itself just a sign that there is a part of you that is lacking Christs vision.
I think of it like this, if their esoteric idolatry helps them achieve the mind of christ then it is useful and worthy thing to follow. I know in myself that i find it difficult to follow very simple instructions. I often need things spiced up a little to hold my attention. That is just the way my psychological make-up is. Much like any genetic predispositions i might have. Why hate those of us who need crutches to limp our way towards God?

that's my biggest issues with their idols, they clue in so much to Jesus, mary, saints...everyone and everything out there but God.  god becomes, "just the father" without a father, there would have been no son...and one of the original rules was to have no idols...ancient pagans had idols for everything, God is about needing nothing but Him.

He called abraham away from idols, not to make more for him...why put followers back to where they were called from?  They're back to paying outrageous prices for a pretty statue to pray to and a man to tell them how to, when all they need is a mind and heart for God? 

Jesus wouldn't have liked the catholic church either...it's become too much like the religious leaders of his time that he would throw fits over  how stupid people were being following their words more than their hearts, god didn't like organized religion in the old testament either.  you may suggest i have a disdain for them because of some "intelligentsia" but it goes deeper, i do think they're the true definition of the antichrist...polluting Jesus's message with idols, apostles and saints not exalting it with action and behavior, causing more damage to the christian ideal than anything good.

not to mention their pagan like rites and rituals, centralized hierarchy that holds the "true word of God" and intolerance for non catholics...do note that i stress it's the church itself and not individual roman catholics...once they're away from the church, it's their choice what to do.

why do we need the mind of christ to think like him?

He was a god in a human body that tried to understand how perfect creations could be so imperfect...tried to show us it's possible and finally gave humanity to us, realizing it was not something he could fix, we have to. 

he loved us regardless....and how can people duplicate the mind of a God?

i was raised in a catholic church...after communion i was an unhappy, messed up bully that threw fits and broke things, after awhile i hated god, found devils and then had my occult fun, got pregnant, they wouldn't baptize my daughter unless i read their bible and went to their classes.  from demon  summonings to risky behavior finally finding my peaceful nature through various earth witcheries and just a few years ago was called out of a land of paganism and set out in the desert with a tall handsome human guide to find myself, God's part in my play and that all i need is hope, faith and love in him...nothing can ruin me again.

you need to know the root and soil it grows in before you can understand how the flower will bloom.

so i have many reason's to disdain the roman church and so many more to praise the Lord in all His forms.

i suppose the westborough baptists are an ideal church too?

[bhambrice]

("i suppose the westborough baptists are an ideal church too?")
No they're not. Jesus had compassion for the people -sinners and wayward alike. Hypocrites he wasn't tolerate of.
These type of churches have missed the message and the way of life.
No church is perfect but there are those that haven't gone off the deep end.