How do you think Jesus would feel about Christianity if he were alive today?

John 11:35 Jesus wept

I think he would say “WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED”

Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text:

My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.
Matthew 21:12&13 (The Message)

I work in a church and in a christian bookstore and it hurts me to say it, but the majority of the people that claim Jesus’ name do only that: claim it. They don’t give their lives to follow him.

I think he’d say, “What’s Christianity?” as he died a Jew and couldn’t know what St. James (and later St. John) set up in his name.

After being filled in, he would be humbled by the gesture.

As he learned more he would eventually be appalled by the attrocities commited in his name, the ignorance fostered by his words, and hatred that exists in people who hide behind him.

Then he would crack his knuckles and say, “Time to get to work!”

I’ll make the assumption here that Jesus has been observing the world during the past two centuries and thus knows what’s been going on.

I think Jesus would be ashamed of what’s being done in his name. Such as the hate towards homosexuals. I think Jesus would be ashamed of the way so called Christians discriminate and hate these people and take active steps to limit their freedom. yes, not all Christians discriminate against homosexuals, and some other religions also discriminate, I know this. I will note that I have not studied the Bible in depth as I have no interest in doing so, but I do believe one of Christ’s beliefs was in treating all people with kindness and love even though you might not agree with them. As such I think he would be appalled and maybe even discouraged by the actions his followers take.

And then there’s the issue Noah D brings up. Continuing, I don’t think Jesus would appreciate preachers who focus on their image and popularity over spreading the message of the Bible (Pat Robertson, William Donohue).

Then again, maybe Jesus knew this would happen, this corruption of his message. Maybe the purpose of the Bible was to show that ultimately, no matter how pure and godly the message, it will be corrupted by individuals looking to profit in some way; that we should be wise and listen to messages but not follow everything we are told; that religion and goodness are not linked, one can be religious but bad just as one can be good but non religious. That’s a message I believe in, right there.

He threw the moneychangers out of the temple; He ministered to the poor and the outcast, and told the rich that where their treasure was, there their heart would be also.

What makes you think His attitude would be any different today?

I think he’d say that the virtues of Christianity are being lost and all that will remain is the form. He would probably remind people of the core values that should be kept in mind:

Faith; Knowledge; Certitude; Justice; Piety; Righteousness; Trustworthiness; Love of God; Benevolence; Purity; Detachment; Humility; Meekness; Patience; Constancy

Probably Restate What’s been longtime written
Spirituality without Jesus is not spiritual, spirituality without Jesus is just Spare Rituals.

Yes, I know this comment is pointless, but I’ll say it anyway. seVen, your comment regarding “spare rituals” is the most offensive thing I have ever seen or heard from a “Christian”. What a presumptuous, uneducated, irresponsible comment. It speaks greatly about the lack of knowledge and character you have.

dynamo: you must live a very sheltered life. Although I don’t agree with seVen-Buddhists, Jews, etc are as spiritual as Christians. On the other hand I hear more ‘offensive’ things every day before noon.

I think that we are as sinful now as when Jesus actually lived, so I am not sure he would think much differently, like cwilbur said.

Nope, I live a very unsheltered life and associate with people across all spectrums. And I do encounter a lot of offensive things throughout my day, including the ridiculous overuse of the font Comic Sans which to a designer is like throwing fistfuls of sand in one’s eyes. seVen’s comment just struck me as being so outlandish and narrowminded, that when I compared it to all other offensive things I have heard said by Christians, I could not think of one that topped seVen’s. Hence the remark. Congrats, seVen, you are now #1 on that despicable list.

I think the following passage gives a pretty good idea of what Jesus would think of many Christians (the passage is speaking to a people who “delight to know [God’s] ways, as if they were nation that did righteousness”—it is written in reaction to “false fasting”):

“Is this not the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

“Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking of wickedness,

“if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:6–10)

Great quote aidje, but Isaiah came before Christ.
8th century BC according to Wiki.

Still a timeless message though.

Actually Christ was here first, just not physically in human form.

Good point, miasmom.
I forgot about In the Beginning.

@fireside
I’m aware of that, but I don’t see how that makes it any less relevant to the topic at hand.

@aidje – I thought it was relevant, that’s why I GA’d you. It just read as though Christ had said that when I first saw your response.

@fireside- Okay. Sorry; I didn’t mean to mislead or confuse anyone.

If “spare rituals” are the same thing as “empty rituals”, I agree with the much-despised seVen about them, and so do you, dynamicduo.

Many serious Christians embrace the doctrine that we can be saved only through Jesus. Jesus himself took this position. If it’s okay to pick and choose from among Jesus’ ideas, then it’s also okay to call yourself not-exactly-a-Christian. SeVen is a pretty definite Christian, and that offends the so-called “liberal” among us because we think it’s too rigid.

But liberals need to honor the principled stance of someone who presents a strict doctrine. If we’re intellectually honest, we must be open to positions that scare us. You don’t have to agree with seVen. You don’t have to like him.
But keep a civil tongue in your head. Don’t freak out when someone has things worked out in a way that’s more demanding than you can handle.
Be a grownup.

Galileogirl nailed it it in her first response.

@seVen,
Looking at the Star of David in your icon, are you Christian or Jewish?

@jholler
I think s/he’s a Zionist Christian.

The Christians of today would crucify Him for being a liberal.

@mizuki et al: the fundamentalists of today would crucify him for thinking whatever they didn’t think,and that would include you, a fundamentalist liberal. (Just guessing; one more
smart remark against intolerance disguised as hipness).

@susanc—educate me please, what is a “fundamentalist liberal”? “Don’t freak out when someone has things worked out in a way that’s more demanding than you can handle.”

Do you try to live by your own words or is this an example of hypocracy?

Gee, where’s Monty during a good debate on religion…

I think it would go a little bit like this video.

At first I thought that Jesus would be totally culture shocked by our modern world. But then I realized that he would be comparing us to the Roman Empire, which was about as materialistic, violent, money-grubbing, and power-hungry as societies come. We have come a long way toward lifting people up out of the inequities of that world. We have abolished slavery; we have removed the main impediments to the equality of women and minorities; we have lifted people up out of demeaning drudgery and given them unprecedented levels of prosperity; and we now officially recognize human and civil rights as central in the Constitutions of the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations.

Jesus saw himself as a Jewish messiah; that is to say, as a prophet and spiritual teacher delivering the Jewish people from the corrupting values of the Roman Empire. He saw the Roman Empire as about to collapse due to its own iniquity, and he sought to immunize Jewish society by instilling in them a regard for compassion-driven social justice. I think he would be pleased to see how well these values have survived the fall of the Roman Empire, despite their perversion by the Church of Rome.

I don’t think Jesus would think much of televangelists, megachurches or the blind faith of Born Again Christians, and he might even put himself at risk by denouncing them as modern day Pharisees. But here’s the thing, I don’t think he would awe them into belief by impressing them with miracles, even if he could. If you require a miracle before you will love your fellow man, then you just don’t “get it.” Its a miracle you have to grant yourself.

That said, there is plenty left to be done, and we all know what it is. To that extent, Jesus is already among us—the composite of all our human consciences, more or less informed by Christianity.

I think someone on here quoted Ghandi in another thread:
“I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”

Ghandi nailed it.

Let’s say he was noticing intolerance. Intolerant Christians exemplify what Mizuki calls hypocracy. Fair enough. As a new step, I am raising the issue of intolerant liberals.
Pretty oxymoronic, but they/we are everywhere.

Of course I try to live by my own words, and sometimes it’s grindingly hard; in order to do it, I have to relinquish some of my reactionary attitude. We (including me) believe we stand for openness and tolerance if we’re nasty about people we can easily identify as being closed and intolerant. That’s a first step, but it’s not enough. It will turn around and bite you.

@Laureth: That was fantastic!

Jholler: I’m happy it stuck with you. It’s by far my favorite ghandi quote. I was actually coming in this thread to link to it!!

“Goddamn. Over 2000 years, and I still have millions of people fooled. I’m pretty damned good.”

I’m with Ghandi. Jesus would feel angry and disappointed about all the injustice in this world.

I imagine him saying something like:

“I said love your neighbor as I have loved you and you still can’t even love your neighbor as yourself.”

Wouldn’t it be a kick in the face if Jesus came back and turned out to be a real dick? If he agreed with the Phelps clan or something? Urgh.

Oooh, that would piss me off!

The question has an issue behind it that I feel I must address.
“How do you think Jesus would feel about Christianity IF he were alive today?”
The resurrection of Christ is verifiable and has been verified by documentation of scripture, and eye witness accounts (one event had over 500 witnesses)and if this were fabricated, it would have been easily refuted by the opponents of Christ living at that time, yet there is no such refutation.
Jesus was and is alive, post-Calvary, and He observed the events of the seven churches which were in Asia (present day Turkey, ‘Asia’ then was a Roman provence) and He had to provide ample correction for them as documented in Revelation chapters 2 & 3.
What would Jesus say to us today, and in regards to modern Christianity?
I think He’d have A LOT to say to these Sunday morning televangelists like Benny Hinn, Robert Tilton, Jimmy Swaggart, Oral Roberts, and various so-called ministers that declare:
“GAWD wants your MUHNEYYYYY (money)!”
I agree with what was said earlier that He would likely rebuke the hostile and hateful remarks and actions against such as homosexuals. What did Jesus say? “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone”? Must be that some Christians believe apart from Christ, that they are sinless! I can’t say that; I’m still a sinner saved by grace.
To modern evangelical America, IN GENERAL, I think He is broken hearted because we aren’t taking His Word seriously any more, we love the sin and hate the sinner, prayer time consists of a few muttered words before we fall asleep in our beds. We have lost our fervancy, we have left our first (best) love, that is, Christ’s love. While none would overtly state that they have greater priorities than the Lord Jesus, they demonstrate this with their deeds.
And the finger pointing starts with ME, sad to say.
YET I also believe that in these final days before the church is taken out, we here, especially in America will be given an opportunity to shine bright and true before its all over with; and thus when we see Him, with joy we may hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!”

I think He would dislike the ATMs in the Churches. Didn’t Jesus have something against moneychangers in the temples?

He’d have his own TV ministry, trophy girlfriend, entourage, etc.. He’d think “this is just awesome, dude!”