Are we becoming more Christian than Christ like?????

Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity says Wikipedia. Christianity is the monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (Christ) is what Wikipedia says about Christianity. The words Christian and Christ have a kind of linear relationship I reckon. But!!! Is this linear relationship becoming increasingly curvy??? Is the difference between Christ and Christian becoming more pronounced??? Or to be more precise, Are we becoming more Christian than Christ like??? is a question that kept coming back to my mind again and again.

In an increasingly monotonous world where the only way to reach your neighbour is through electronic signals (The same way used to contact our friends abroad), it is becoming increasingly difficult to show Christ. The easiest way of course is to be a regular in the Sunday morning services, which of all things, has given way to this new concept of “Christ less” Christians. Attending the Sunday morning Church services half an hour late has given us the token for the entire week to live life as if, Christ as a person never existed. By writing about Sunday morning services I mean the great “Christian traditions” and in no way I am against going to Church on Sunday mornings. The problem with Christ always has been his inability to live within the traditions. He was often found performing miracles on the poor and the wicked, when he was supposed to dine with the clergy and do no other thing. He did his miracles on Sundays and encouraged his disciples not to Fast when he was around. He was always far off the target set by the clergies which made them run after him in anger.

As Christians of the modern world we are also facing the same problem which Christ faced in his days. “To embrace what Christ did” or “To go along the river of traditions to show that we are Christians” (after all Christ himself wanted us to show that, Didn’t he?) are the options God has given us. Two weeks back, I was showing some photograph of my sister with a small Kid (2 years) to my younger brother (10 years old). He flinched his eyes and said “Ah, that is a Hindu Kid. What??? I asked myself!!! A Hindu Kid!!! My mind said there was something fundamentally wrong…… No, No, My brother is too small, I comforted myself. After a week, some colleagues of mine joined together and planned to go to an orphanage and spend some useful time there. One of my colleagues (A Christian) said to me, it would be nice if that is a Christian orphanage. Ah there it goes again……I asked myself this question when I went to an orphanage not run by Christians and to be very honest I preferred being at a Christian orphanage on Sunday evenings rather than something else……We are more comfortable in the presence of Christians, Which sadly Christ never did, nor was he more comfortable in presence of the clergies. We, often without our knowledge are more comfortable with the Christian tag than the Christ like tag. Christ wanted us to go in to this world and live among the people of the world, the sinners, the down trodden, the lost, the sick, people with varied traditions, cultures, values, and principles, and live should we, as people showing the LOVE that he showered on us.

The Christian tag is nice and beautiful. I love wearing that and roaming around. I am proud if some body calls my name and asks me whether I am a Christian. I really love calling myself a Christian. But, if that is what is preventing me from mixing with people around me, in the same manner in which I mingle with other Christians, then I prefer people calling me a non Christian. Christ never carried that tag around and I am sure he does not want me to carry it around as well. I prefer being Christ like than to be a Christian.