Dear Reader,
I want to kindly invite you to a fresh look at Christianity. Not the Christianity of rules and regulations that are imposed on people and enforced by social control, psychological pressure or cultural norms as it has been developed by churches and religious orders over the centuries. I invite you to leave such a concept of Christianity behind you and look at the Christ-ianity as has been exemplified in Jesus Christ himself, in his teachings and in his actions. True Christianity is not about memorising and strenuously trying to adhere to a set of (human-made) religious rules, failing which results in guilt, condemnation and shame, or "succeeding" in self-delusion, self-righteousness and spiritual pride. Jesus himself says that he did not come to condemn but to save, heal and bring fullness of life. Genuine undiluted Christianity has its origin in Christ himself and is first and foremost Christ-like in philosophy. After all, all our actions are inspired, informed and guided by what we truly believe. If we believe that life is about “live and let live”, or, “every man for himself and God for us all”, or “everything is acceptable as long as it does not physically harm our fellow humans”, then this will affect the way we live, the choices we make, what we consider permissible, acceptable, right or wrong. Now we may cloak our philosophy of life with religious language and religious practices, rituals or symbols, but if our core philosophy is not Christ-like, we are not truly Christ-ian in the Christ-like sense of the word. The philosophy of Christ is “love God with all your being and love your neighbour as yourself”. We need to love God as He was revealed by Christ as the embodiment of love, kindness, forgiveness, patience, justice and goodness. Just as He loves us we must learn to love our neighbour as ourselves. The core of True Christianity is about a deep inner conviction, a strong belief and genuine faith that this Christ-like philosophy of life is the way we should live. It is for this very reason that the apostle Paul writes “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. It is this philosophy that translates into a Christ-like life-style from the heart and results in Christ-like morals and values, words and deeds inspired by love.
