Is Christianity Really Just about Being Nice?

[missmuffet]

As Christian we are suppose to be kind to others. That is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

[markdohle]

14 hours ago, Yowm said:

But not always gentle...

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." (Mat 11:21-24)
 

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."
(Luk 11:42-44)
 

And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
(Luk 11:46-48)
 

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
(Mat 23:33-36)
 

ahh, sweet loving Jesus....except when it comes to falsehood.

Yes he was harsh with people like us who know the book, know who is saved and who is not.......the weak and those who were outcast were treated with gentleness by him, but people like us, who have the book are often more like the Pharisees than Jesus.   Self righteousness is the spiritual disease of those who are elect.

By the way, this is not directed at you ;-).........just an observation. 

Peace
Mark

[Ezra]

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

Chemotherapy is a 'kind' treatment, painful and needed, ...but kind.

Yeah.  It kills with kindness.  Evidently 50% of those receiving chemotherapy are killed.

[missmuffet]

3 hours ago, Yowm said:

Chemotherapy is a 'kind' treatment, painful and needed, ...but kind.

I do not understand your reasoning.

[missmuffet]

3 minutes ago, Yowm said:

Sometimes kindness comes in ways that may not appear 'nice' but it is necessary and in the long run is an act of kindness.

Chemotherapy may seem unkind in it's effects on the body but it was administered with the kind intention for the well being of the patient.

Ok. A fake kindness.A fake friend. Well they are just a hypocrite. They will stab you in the back. With friends like that you sure do not need any enemies.

[Wayne222]

Jesus rebuke those who thought they were righteous but did not live by Gods love.let us beware of thinking we are righteous . Only God is righteous. 

[Wayne222]

We are counted righteous by the blood sacrifice of Jesus. We are called to be holy and have his nature by the holy spirit.  So we can walk in righteousness as we yield to him. That is a  growing of his likeness. We need to become more like him as we walk with him.It takes time and effort. So we should never think we are already there. Paul said we press on to obtain it.

[Churchmouse]

Kindness is in the eye of the beholder. There are some who think good and gullibility go hand in hand and I think there are some which would actively use a kind person in every way possible. There are those out there, who I call emotional vampires because they will suck out every iota of concern from you and leave you  emotionally exhausted.

We need to be thoughtful of the manner in which we go about doing Gods work and we need his guidance to accomplish that.

[AngelofAshes]

6 hours ago, Churchmouse said:

Kindness is in the eye of the beholder. There are some who think good and gullibility go hand in hand and I think there are some which would actively use a kind person in every way possible. There are those out there, who I call emotional vampires because they will suck out every iota of concern from you and leave you  emotionally exhausted.

We need to be thoughtful of the manner in which we go about doing Gods work and we need his guidance to accomplish that.

I agree with this. When I was mentioning 'niceness' in this post I was thinking about people who I've talked with who were nonbelievers who believe being 'good' or 'nice' to people is all it takes in life and they didn't need a religion. It then made me think of Christians I see who focus very hard on being 'nice' only to the point where they don't feel the need to share the truth or get angry about sin when necessary OR they take on every problem, want, or need thinking this is the goal when they should be concentrating their energy in specific areas. 

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit and I believe if you genuinely follow God, eventually this fruit will be a product in your life and it will be genuine. However, I think it's good for us as Christians to be aware that there are Nonbelievers who feel like being nice is all it takes to live in life and they think they can achieve this without a God. People look at good deeds in a positive way, so what would make a person who was on the fence of deciding to be Christian choose Christianity over atheism if they saw both of them do good deeds/be nice, if being nice is the goal? I hope people see what I'm getting at.

[Churchmouse]

2 hours ago, AngelofAshes said:

I agree with this. When I was mentioning 'niceness' in this post I was thinking about people who I've talked with who were nonbelievers who believe being 'good' or 'nice' to people is all it takes in life and they didn't need a religion. It then made me think of Christians I see who focus very hard on being 'nice' only to the point where they don't feel the need to share the truth or get angry about sin when necessary OR they take on every problem, want, or need thinking this is the goal when they should be concentrating their energy in specific areas. 

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit and I believe if you genuinely follow God, eventually this fruit will be a product in your life and it will be genuine. However, I think it's good for us as Christians to be aware that there are Nonbelievers who feel like being nice is all it takes to live in life and they think they can achieve this without a God. People look at good deeds in a positive way, so what would make a person who was on the fence of deciding to be Christian choose Christianity over atheism if they saw both of them do good deeds/be nice, if being nice is the goal? I hope people see what I'm getting at.

I understand fully what you mean. I would submit that personality and attitude are the operative measures in the smell test of life. I think there are just as many proud, haughty elitist snobs within Christianity as there are without. Longevity is the key to determining the strength ans sincerity of any ones compassion and each and every one of us has our limits, but we do have the benefit of of the emperor of the universe only a prayer away.

It is said that a person is not measured by how he/she reacts in good times, but in bad. I've seen the most intently positive person in the world turn into an absolute jerk when things turn on him and he had nowhere to turn to, because he thought his success was totally due to him. I would note that there were signs that existed below the radar screen and, to me, it his warmth felt more saccharine than sugar.  He ended up disappearing into the rest of the world wreathing in his own misery. My point is that without God, everyone is on their own and without him there is not scaffolding that supports us in times of trouble.  people, without God tend to buffeted  more by the storms that blow through our lives and it effects them and how the react to the world.  People with God, have a far better chance to weather the storm, because their house was built on stone instead of on the sand. They also have the benefit of the Christian community and God knows this. He might test us for a time, but he will not test us beyond our strength, since he knows us. He will make all things right, pick us up and set us on the right path, again.

I submit that people out there will sense sweet smell of the blood of the lamb on all of us when we interact with the world and we will feel, to them, more wholesome than others and they will wonder just what makes us different. It is this that will open the door to so many out there, since they will feel Gods grace on us, look around to their history with the rest of the world ad see it lacking with we have. All we have to do is welcom them as we were once welcomed and talk to them about  having Jesus in their lives.