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Missions

Gandhi And Christianity

Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Gandhi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, “Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?”

Gandhi replied, “Oh, I don’t reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Apparently Gandhi’s rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that happened when he was a young man practising law in South Africa. He had become attracted to the Christian faith, had studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was seriously exploring becoming a Christian. And so he decided to attend a church service. As he came up the steps of the large church where he intended to go, a white South African elder of the church barred his way at the door. “Where do you think you’re going, kaffir?” the man asked Gandhi in a belligerent tone of voice.

Gandhi replied, “I’d like to attend worship here.”

The church elder snarled at him, “There’s no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I’ll have my assistants throw you down the steps.”

From that moment, Gandhi said, he decided to adopt what good he found in Christianity, but would never again consider becoming a Christian if it meant being part of the church.

How we treat those others tells people MORE about what we believe, and what following Jesus means to us, than all the fine sermons we deliver.

Source Unknown (anyone any idea where this comes from?)

Discussion

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  1. […] Ghandi could have been truly great as a Christian. But why wasn’t he? He read the Bible, quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. It was because a church elder would not let him in church the one time that he wanted to go in. The church elder was hateful to Ghandi and he never tried to go to church again. It is also telling when he says “you Christians are so unlike your Christ”. You can read this story at John Mark Ministries. […]

    Posted by To Love Or Not To Love « Caed's Spot | February 4, 2012, 4:30 pm
  2. […] one of Gandhi’s primary inspirations as a young man was Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount!  (thisis interesting). through nonviolent action, things changed. 

    Posted by blessed are the peacemakers « the carnival in my head. | April 16, 2011, 1:17 am