Who is a Christian?? !!

[oldbadger]

Before Covid I used to cycle around my local area and would visit chapels and churches which held tea'n'chat meetings. On one occasion I passed a Christian hall and saw a poster which read something like 'soup and chat', and I walked inside just as the event was commencing. A long table was set and many mid-aged and elderly folks sat around; I was guided to a place.

A very stern lady across the table fixed me in her gaze and an interrogation began:-
Who are you?
Hello I'm oldbadger.
Why have you come here?
I wanted to meet you, and the soup is interesting.
How did you know about this meeting?
I saw a big poster outside.
Do you walk in to any place because of posters?
Yes..... I often do.
Where else have you just walked in to?
Oh, lots of places. The Methodist church holds tea/biscuit meets on Saturday mornings.
She grunted what sounded like disapproval. I mentioned a few other meetings and then the room erupted.
I said....
Oh, and the Christian Spiritualists in T--------- offering healing and tea on Mondays at 1.30pm.

This stern lady exploded.
They are not Christians! They worship the Devil! All these evil people who pretend to be Christians...... Jesus warned us about you all! And that disgusting Halloween...... ............ well this carried on for minutes until she could be calmed down.

This has happened many times....... I once mentioned that we have JW Christian friends and we are pleased to let them park on our driveway when visiting homes in the area, and several Christians immediately pointed out that JWs are different, or not proper Christians......

There are many many differing churches and creeds, and so I wonder....... who is a proper Christian?

[oldbadger]

Ok, so let me see if I can grasp this concept..

You, a professed unbeliever of Christianity, are going around, cycling, and visiting chapels and churches?

No....... I this was before Covid, so you should have used a past imperfect tense, but I do hope to visit chapels and churches again, especially tea-n-chat meetings.

So, out of all the places an unbeliever can go, he is choosing to go to a place where believers gather.

Yes. Please get your tense right. You read stuff and then you adjust it, it seems.
And I've met a few Christians who talk like you write as well.
onwards........ >>>

Look, people, I know I've vented on numerous occasions as to how my mind continues to be blown away about stuff like this.

And shout out to all those who've weighed in and shed some light on the issue...and I assure you, every time I get a reasoned response, I walk away feeling satisfied.

That is, until I see the next thread or post pertaining to an unbeliever, who, has zero belief in Jesus/Christianity, yet unknowingly shows us (on this forum) every single day his deep down hidden obsession with the religion.

In my case that is not so much an obsession but a practice. I've been walking in to and sitting within chapels and churches throughout all my life, I have felt ok in them. Pagans met in these places for ages before Christianity ever got here, you know.

So, let me place myself in a similar scenario...

Star Wars: I find the entire franchise to be boring, lame, and a complete waste of presented entertainment...and I CERTAINLY don't believe any of it is real.
Now, in what world will I ask myself; who is a real Star Wars fan?? !!
As I ponder...

1. Is a real Star Wars fan someone who can recite every single line of every single movie in the franchise?

2. Is a real Star Wars fan someone who has pictures and memorabilia and paintings of Star Wars in his home?

3. Is a real Star Wars fan someone who, for every single day of the week, wear a different Star Wars costume for the entire day?

Why do I care!!!

Am I going to ride my bike around town, looking for Star Wars spots and gatherings so that I can chat and have drinks with Star Wars fans?

Will I be like that one guy on that show "Finding Big Foot" (about big foot enthusiasts who are on a quest to find big foot), who is a Big Foot skeptic...he doesn't believe in Big Foot; yet he goes around with the group, as they are on a quest to "find Big Foot"!?!?

Why do some Christians and atheists jump behind fitional films and stories when all they have to do is talk about the subject at hand?
And in your case you use sarcasm and you also have written stuff (to me) which you later claim to be 'just kidding'.
Why do you need to do that?

Why would a non-Christian..a skeptic...a person who DOESN'T believe in Jesus/Christianity, concern himself with who is/isn't a Christian?
????????

Why do you visit this forum? Would you like to tell us?
My answer to you is that I became interested in learning more about historical Jesus in 1994 and this became a hobby.

Do you go to a church? Do you interrogate visitors to your church about the reasons for their visit?
You could leave a questionnaire in the porch for visitors to fill in, explaining reason for their visit.

[onewithhim]

Jesus left us a pattern to follow. (I Peter 2:21). He regularly met with congregations in synagogues and wherever there were his followers getting together. (Luke 4:16).

No..... they were not followers of Jesus...... They were Jews meeting at meeting places. And they were not 'in' synagogues so much as 'at' them.
Would an example help?
Mark {6:2} And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing [him] were astonished, saying, From whence hath this [man] these things? and what wisdom [is] this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? {6:3} Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here
with us? And they were offended at him.

........no followers were those.
And all this stuff about Jesus 'teaching'! He made speeches, he spoke.. yes, but he was a very inadequate teacher because so few people understood what he was telling them. Would you like some evidence of that?

I didn't say his followers were in the synagogues.
And people understood what he was teaching them. He used illustrations to make a point that they could identify with. Some of the things he said were beyond people's comprehension, but if they stayed with him long enough they would get the sense of it, as Peter and others did even though they didn't understand the things about eating Jesus' body. They were to understand that it was a metaphor, but at first it was puzzling.

[oldbadger]

I didn't say his followers were in the synagogues.

Yes, you are right about that.

And people understood what he was teaching them. He used illustrations to make a point that they could identify with. Some of the things he said were beyond people's comprehension, but if they stayed with him long enough they would get the sense of it, as Peter and others did even though they didn't understand the things about eating Jesus' body. They were to understand that it was a metaphor, but at first it was puzzling.

Beyond people's comprehension.....
Indeed.

[We_Are_VENOM]

No....... I this was before Covid, so you should have used a past imperfect tense, but I do hope to visit chapels and churches again, especially tea-n-chat meetings.

Well, unless you were a believer pre-Covid, whether or not it was before/after Covid has no relevance to anything I said.

Yes. Please get your tense right. You read stuff and then you adjust it, it seems.
And I've met a few Christians who talk like you write as well.
onwards........ >>>

?

In my case that is not so much an obsession but a practice. I've been walking in to and sitting within chapels and churches throughout all my life, I have felt ok in them.

Wow. No places to go where atheists gather and become unified, huh?

Pagans met in these places for ages before Christianity ever got here, you know.

No, I don't know.

Why do some Christians and atheists jump behind fitional films and stories when all they have to do is talk about the subject at hand?

?

And in your case you use sarcasm and you also have written stuff (to me) which you later claim to be 'just kidding'.
Why do you need to do that?

It is called; humor. Or rather an attempt at it.

Why do you visit this forum? Would you like to tell us?

1. I am of the Biblical belief that Jesus wants us to become fishers of men (Mark 1:16-18), which means to go out and gather fish in the "salvation" net, and reel them in to the kingdom.

So that is what I attempt to do here.

2. I am also here to combat lies, deceptions, and false teachings of Christianity, which is what Jesus/Paul did, and what I currently do for my part in the Kingdom.

My answer to you is that I became interested in learning more about historical Jesus in 1994 and this became a hobby.

.......

Do you go to a church?

No.

Do you interrogate visitors to your church about the reasons for their visit?

People go to church to worship God and have fellowship with fellow believers. So, church goers have invested interests in attending church.

Unbelievers, on the other hand..

You could leave a questionnaire in the porch for visitors to fill in, explaining reason for their visit.

I repeat; People go to church to worship God and have fellowship with fellow believers. So, church goers have invested interests in attending church.

[oldbadger]

.

Wow. No places to go where atheists gather and become unified, huh?

I'm not an atheist

2. I am also here to combat lies, deceptions, and false teachings of Christianity, which is what Jesus/Paul did, and what I currently do for my part in the Kingdom.

Please tell more about this.
When you write about 'false teachings of Christianity' do you mean 'false teachings about Christianity'?
I ask that because I cannot imagine that you think that Christianity's teachings are false.

I asked you.... Do you go to a church? and your reply...

No.

.... this is the second member here who is a strong Christian but that who does not go to any church.
I'm thinking of @Tam in that respect.

People go to church to worship God and have fellowship with fellow believers. So, church goers have invested interests in attending church.

Unbelievers, on the other hand..

If you did belong to a church, would it offend you if unbelievers came in to it?

[We_Are_VENOM]

I'm not an atheist

Well, substitute atheist for "unbeliever in Christianity".

Please tell more about this.
When you write about 'false teachings of Christianity' do you mean 'false teachings about Christianity'?

Bingo, amigo.

I ask that because I cannot imagine that you think that Christianity's teachings are false.

Correct assessment.

I asked you.... Do you go to a church? and your reply...

No.

.... this is the second member here who is a strong Christian but that who does not go to any church.
I'm thinking of @Tam in that respect.

tam? Who is tam??

Ohh, how can I forget my sister in Christ.

If I am John Wick when it comes to Christian apologetics, tam is my female partner and old friend, Sofia (Halle Berry's character)

And together, we fight on behalf of the Kingdom of the Living God.

To see us in action, consider this scene..

Me: John Wick

tam: Sofia

Dogs: angels sent by God

Bad guys: any unbelievers in Christ



Just kidding.

But seriously though, I am certainly not against church membership per se (I love the concept), it just isn't for me.

If you did belong to a church, would it offend you if unbelievers came in to it?

Im sorry, but I cant answer that question until I am able to wrap my mind around why would an unbeliever go to church.

[oldbadger]

Im sorry, but I cant answer that question until I am able to wrap my mind around why would an unbeliever go to church.

I can think of several reasons.
Living in a church converted in to flats. (There's a few of those around here).
Owning the freehold of a privately purchased church. (There's one ten miles away).
Attending a Christian Spiritualist church after a death.
Archaeology enthusiast, student, researcher.
Attending Baptism, Weddings and Funerals.
A place to sit quietly and think.
Attending tea'n'chat and soup'n'chat social events.
........... that's just off the keyboard.

I've been in to churches and chapels where folks have wondered about my presence, but I've only been in to one church in my entire life where a person demanded to know why I present. Christians who don't want outsiders to enter should really put up a notice outside.

[oldbadger]

There are many many differing churches and creeds, and so I wonder....... who is a proper Christian?

OK, so I've learned something..... this is my perception from the answers.....
Some answers showed an acceptance of any person as a Christian.
Some showed that any declared Christian is a Christian.
Some suggested that Christianity is (for the individual) to be a singular or isolated faith between self and God (Christ).
Some showed that only members of their particular creed or following are Christians.

That does seem to be what I experienced during my visits to various groups and congregations.
But now that Covid is reduced I do hope to get back to any tea'n'chat sessions that have survived the long closures, because I enjoy the rests, the friendships, the chats, and the venues.

Thank you, all who posted here