Was this man a Christian?

http://www.tickld.com/x/this-man-got-mugged-what-he-did-next-was-genius

Jesus said: You are my disciple if you do what I say, not if you just say: Lord, Lord.

He also said: If a man takes your wallet, give him your coat also. (OK, I paraphrase)

So was this man a Christian?

This links to FabianFnas's question: Am I a Christian?

Originally posted by CalJust
http://www.tickld.com/x/this-man-got-mugged-what-he-did-next-was-genius

Jesus said: You are my disciple if you [b]do what I say, not if you just say: Lord, Lord.

He also said: If a man takes your wallet, give him your coat also. (OK, I paraphrase)

So was this man a Christian?

This links to FabianFnas's question: Am I a Christian?[/b]

I am all for the side of Christianity that encourages people to treat each other better.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
I am all for the side of Christianity that encourages people to treat each other better.

Isn't it strange today to think that the first group of Christians were held in high regard by all of society - friend and foe alike?

Maybe the teachings of Jesus were still close to their hearts, before all this doctrinal bickering started.

Alas, it seems it started already in Paul's day...

Originally posted by CalJust
http://www.tickld.com/x/this-man-got-mugged-what-he-did-next-was-genius

Jesus said: You are my disciple if you [b]do what I say, not if you just say: Lord, Lord.

He also said: If a man takes your wallet, give him your coat also. (OK, I paraphrase)

So was this man a Christian?

This links to FabianFnas's question: Am I a Christian?[/b]

He's certainly a very cool guy.

He could also be muslim, Christian or atheist ... does it matter?

Originally posted by CalJust
http://www.tickld.com/x/this-man-got-mugged-what-he-did-next-was-genius

Jesus said: You are my disciple if you [b]do what I say, not if you just say: Lord, Lord.

He also said: If a man takes your wallet, give him your coat also. (OK, I paraphrase)

So was this man a Christian?

This links to FabianFnas's question: Am I a Christian?[/b]

If your question is: did he act Christ-like, I think the answer is obvious.

If your question is: what is this man's spiritual conviction, I think the answer is undetermined.

I know many people who both live in accordance with their convictions while also living in complete defiance to the same.

For instance, there is no shortage of Christians who live as though it all ends on this world despite their conviction of both higher accountability as well as the prospect of future rewards.

Conversely, there is no shortage of atheists who live as though everything depends upon the legacy they leave behind, even though they believe it all comes to naught in the end.

Originally posted by CalJust
Isn't it strange today to think that the first group of Christians were held in high regard by all of society - friend and foe alike?

Maybe the teachings of Jesus were still close to their hearts, before all this doctrinal bickering started.

Alas, it seems it started already in Paul's day...

Well, there were less of them than now. There are still many who are motivated to live a morally good life by their faith. But the law of averages says that with billions of Christians, some of them are bound to be a-holes. They hurt the PR a bit.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
Well, there were less of them than now. There are still many who are motivated to live a morally good life by their faith. But the law of averages says that with billions of Christians, some of them are bound to be a-holes. They hurt the PR a bit.

It's almost like the current scenario is a complete inverse of the early Church.

The early Christians were highly esteemed for their equitable and kind treatment of all others.
Today's self-described atheists are the overwhelming a-holes modern counterparts.
They're like the folks who are into Crossfit™: they really need to know that you know.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
It's almost like the current scenario is a complete inverse of the early Church.

The early Christians were highly esteemed for their equitable and kind treatment of all others.
Today's self-described atheists are the overwhelming a-holes modern counterparts.
They're like the folks who are into Crossfit™: they really need to know that you know.

What's Crossfit? 😕

Self-described? As opposed to.....

Originally posted by CalJust
So was this man a Christian?

Its interesting that the article holds no clue as to his religion. Most Christians in that situation would have been pushing their religion - and attributing the behavior of both of the to the influence of Jesus.

Originally posted by CalJust
Isn't it strange today to think that the first group of Christians were held in high regard by all of society - friend and foe alike?

Some groups of Christians still are. If for one hold most Catholic brothers and nuns in high regard. I also know some Christians, Hindus and Muslims that I hold in high regard for their charity work.

CalJust asked: Was this man a Christian?

How can we tell? Perhaps he was christian, but he can very well be humanitarian, muslim, atheist, whatever. How can we tell.

He was a moral man, alright. But as has been showed, again and again, moral doesn't go hand in hand with christian people. Some christians are men of morals, but yet, there are a lot of exceptions, so no generalization is possible.

Has anyone asked him? What did he answer?

I would say that this is an open question. We just don't know.

We don't know if he plays chess, we don't know if he has a car, we don't know if he has a good job, we don't know if he is married, we don't know if he is left or right, we don't know if he is gay, we don't know if he prefer basketball over football, we don't know... we don't know....

We just don't know anything, do we?

Originally posted by wolfgang59
He's certainly a very cool guy.

He could also be muslim, Christian or atheist ... does it matter?

Thank you, Wolfgang, that is exactly the point i was trying to make.

Here is a man who was (knowingly or unknowingly) carrying out Jesus' principles.

There is a story that Jesus told about a father who had two sons, call them Bill and Ken. He said to them both: Please will you mow the lawn? "sure thing, dad," said Bill, but then went to continue with his video game.

"Sorry dad, no can do" said Ken, "I've got a lot of important stuff i need to do".

However, later Ken's conscience began to worry him, and he went to mow the lawn anyway.

Jesus' question was: "Which one of these two sons actually did his father's will? Clearly, Ken."

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
If your question is: did he act Christ-like, I think the answer is obvious.

If your question is: what is this man's spiritual conviction, I think the answer is undetermined.

I know many people who both live in accordance with their convictions while also living in complete defiance to the same.

For instance, there is no shortage of Christians who ...[text shortened]... s upon the legacy they leave behind, even though they believe it all comes to naught in the end.

Thanks, Freaky. Good comment.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Some groups of Christians still are. If for one hold most Catholic brothers and nuns in high regard. I also know some Christians, Hindus and Muslims that I hold in high regard for their charity work.

Thanks, twhitehead, for both your comments.

In the story of the good Samaritan, the punchline is: "Go and do the same!" Or "This is a good example of how you should act".

In today's culture, the Levite and priest who passed by would be a christian pastor or at least a very religious person, and the "outsider" Samaritan would have been a muslim or a Buddhist.

And Jesus would have commended either of these two as having carried out his precepts.