Thursday, June 21, 2012

Don't Quote Him: Gandhi

I've mentioned Gandhi before on this blog when Tim Challies blogged about him.  In the spirit of political incorrectness, I'm going to mention him again, not to condemn, but hopefully to heal.

In all due respect, Gandhi is someone I respect, he did wonderful things for the poor in India, and he's dead now.  However, as a Christian, I prefer to pity him rather than quote him, even if I do agree with his quotes.

His most famous is probably the one about how he loves Jesus but not the Christians because they are so unlike Jesus.  When he said that, he completely missed the point of why we need Jesus.  I do agree that we need to care more for the poor, and so many people have been dismissed in the name of religion.  It is very much a sin and a shame.  Yes, Gandhi and Gandhi quoters, the church is full of hypocrites and I'm one of them.  You know why?  I was born in sin, and even since God saved me, I still live in this body and it's still broken down although my spirit is healed.

However, Gandhi never really understood how hopelessly lost he is in sin.  He never really understood that no act of kindness we can do can change that.  We're still hopelessly lost in sin, and I am glad we are not like Jesus because then He gets all the glory and not me.  Anything good I can do is like a filthy rag to God and insults his gift of salvation through Christ.  Only when I submit to Christ, can I finally do good things for people.

So no, don't quote Gandhi.  But do surrender to Christ so that you can be the Christian he would have liked to have seen.

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