How Christians Can Make The World A Better Place

These are commandments in the Bible for Christians to act in our world. They were part of a lesson at my church two Sundays ago. I am not a fan of the 'if God weren't real' hypothetical situation myself, but taking that stance, let's look at the following.









Now, with those verses stated; I am no supporter of taking things out of context to obscure the truth of a passage, as you all know. I am not taking these things out of context to prove some hair brained, conjured truth. No, I am picking these verses as a challenge to all whom may read this that call themselves Christians. Do these things in your daily walk. If you do nothing else, do these things out of Love. Pure, unbiased, selfless love.

I think it is fairly safe to assume that theists and non theists alike can agree that if all proclaimed Christians did these simple tasks; cared for the orphaned and widowed, sold their possessions to take care of the needy, be kind and forgiving, be non-judgmental, and produce the fruits of the spirit: that each Christian would leave this world a better place than they came into it. Remove entirely the possibility of God's existence, or an eternal life. Simply look at those works, and the innate selflessness built into them. Would this world not be better?

With that said, here is my basis for the love message I have been so adamant about lately. It is also the basis in which I tie every facet of my belief and life unto.


This is the second covenant God created with man. It is no longer about following certain, strict rules for fear of hell. It is about a lifestyle that all thoughts and actions are derived from love. Doing things out of love for others makes those things not a sin. It is no longer the action, but the reason behind the action. 1 Corinthians goes on a few more verses to discuss love further. I think it would be good for theists and non alike to at least read up until 13:13.

I plead to you, community of FFXIAH, to hold me accountable to all things of these verses in what I do and say on here. If I am outside of the realm of these, please let me know and I will apologize and correct accordingly. I challenge all other Christians to stick to these tenants as well, and you can bet that I will (out of love) hold you accountable.

If you tl;dr, I'm sorry it wasn't worth your time. If you did read, I am open to your thoughts and criticisms.

Doing good deeds isn't exclusive to certain community that holds certain idea. I believe many religions have similar guidelines in their teachings.

I'm not sure what else to comment.

I forgive you for making this thread :)

The world would be a better place if people followed those guidelines, you are absolutely right in that, Daemun. And people of every religious belief and of every background can and should be capable of doing these things. Loving your fellow man, regardless of belief, is something all of us should remember to do.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

It was pointed at Christians, because more often than not (as attested to by many members here), they are the worst type of human beings on earth. Judgmental, hypocritical, and exlusivists. I am challenging that sect of the populous because I align myself with it, and hold them to my own standards.

I agree that any human should be capable, nay, expected, to love others and treat them with respect.

I know more Atheists that follow those guidelines than Christians.

/trollon

Probably not far from the truth.

I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here. I could throw darts at pages of the bible and tell women they're property and to execute everyone who wears modern clothes.

Certain aspects of morality are histrionically similar to that of today, good job.

athiests love doing this so much lol.

i personally would just prefer if the two left each other alone, as it's like cooking. it's ok to believe your food is the superior "flavor" but the instant you start trying to shove your meal in people's face to force them to believe it is wrong, regardless if you believe or dont believe in a deity.

Except for the simple fact that my food doesn't seek to alienate and oppress groups of people.

Ah, you answered your own question. I was trying to "prove" that Christians need to treat everyone better. I was trying to find out if the things I found, from the Christian Bible were universally acceptable by theists and non theists as 'good' things for a person to do. You obviously missed what Schatzie quoted from me, as I wasn't trying to pick parts out of the Bible to make Christians look good, or validate the Bible's teachings. I was using part of our commanded acts as guidelines for us to behave and treat other humans properly.

"That's not what I was doing but that's exactly what I was doing."

Okay.

Don't forget to execute everyone at red lobster, too.

You missed my point. I wasn't trying to prove anything with those passages. I was trying to inspire people to utilize them. There is a vast difference.


Thoroughly wooshed, enlighten me.

And if that's all the things Christians would follow, that would be great. Except in practice, people most likely won't stop there.

I agree. That was my plea, though. People are too hung up on convention and ritual to see how they are actually impacting the world around them. If they shed some of that ceremony, and actually clung to the core teachings of Christ, they would impact the world in a much better sense than they currently do.

You can't take certain aspects of Christian morality (as per the Bible) and say "Wouldn't this be great?" Why go out of your way to denote the relevant points of morality from an ancient texts when those exact virtues exist elsewhere? All I'm seeing is "Isn't Christianity wonderful if we ignore what isn't wonderful?"

I think you are completely missing my point, still. I'm not trying to praise how wonderful Christianity is. I'm trying to push those of us that claim to be Christians to be better people. This is supposed to be inspiration, not celebration. I actually pointed out, numerous times, how treacherous many "Christians" are. I want that to change. This is a call to arms. A call to live. A call to love.

Rewrite the bible from scratch.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but by doing so you're telling them to ignore their teachings. I understand exactly what you're saying, my point is that you need to understand why the basis for your argument is flawed, as is your religion.

The problem isn't with the religion, it's with those whom interpret it. I'm not telling them to ignore their teachings; well yeah I am, to an extent. I don't understand how my argument is flawed, as I have no argument. I was merely challenging people of a certain sect to take on what I said. If they lived it fully, it would more than likely radically change their faith. That is the purpose, though. Some people are still infants in faith, needed to be nurtured by tradition and tenants. I ask them to grow in faith, becoming leaders and not blind followers. Be different. Be humble. Be completely selfless.


I'll get right on that ; ). I am not worthy to change for the better what has been passed down. There is still plenty of good information in the Bible. The problem lies in how many churches contort said information.

Those are all good; However, when non-religious ask you guys not to follow the "what is punishable", how much of holy books guidelines you are willing to give up?

I agree it doesn't rely on religion. I chose them because they are the self proclaimed "holy" ones. If they are going to call themselves that, they best be living it. I also only called upon religious because I am one, and feel I have the right to do so. It wouldn't be fair of me to ask my tiny framed wife to bench 400lbs or squat 600lbs. I would challenge my college roomate (who was an athlete like myself) to join me in doing so, however.

If the whole text followed the vein of those passages history would have unfolded very differently than it did.

Jainism does its best to be a 'non-violent' religion, I think the great monotheisms could learn from it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism

Many non religious and infant religious are hung up on the Old Testament view of the Bible. "What is punishable" is not the clear and concise black/white lines it used to be. Would it be wrong for me to cheat on my wife? Absolutely. My reason for action would be selfish in motive. Would it be wrong for me to kill a man defending my home from intrusion? My reason for action would be out of love of my family and the protection of their liberty. I don't think this would be considered sin to God. It was one of the Ten Commandments, however.

Religious incantation is about giving up things for the sake of the religion. Following Christ isn't about what you have to give up, it's about what you gain.

C-blocked by black out day ><

That would suggest that either you're denying the word of God or saying that the Bible is not the word of God. The Christian faith is rubbish by any modern standard of decency.

It's just another case of cherry picking the passages you like, and ignoring the ones you don't like. This describes 99% of christians.

I respect your opinion of the matter.

Again, this wasn't for affirmation of my faith or confirmation of goodness in my people. These were passages I said weren't being followed by my people and I challenge them to do so. I really don't know how to explain this more clearly.