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Finding the Difference Between a Gandhi and a Christian
Few would question that Mohandas Gandhi was one of the towering examples of humanism in the twentieth century. Through peaceful and non-violent resistance, he helped emancipate the Indian people from British rule, providing him the honor of being the father of the Indian Nation. Mr. Gandhi certainly embodied some of the finest of human virtues, including honor, dignity, meekness, and endurance, among others. And yet, as Christian-like as his virtues and actions were, Mr. Gandhi was not a Christian. Almost ironically, many Christians today endeavor to possess and exhibit the same virtues that Mr. Gandhi himself personified. Thus, if Christians manifest the same virtues that Mr. Gandhi, a non-Christian, continually expressed, then what is the difference between Mr. Gandhi and a Christian?
I found that the answer, based on the Bible, is a matter of life source. I am, as a human being, a living soul (Genesis 2:7), having the life of the soul (, psuche) (Matthew 10:39) as my life and personality, making me a soulish man (1 Corinthians 2:14). Mr. Gandhi, quite appropriately called by the Indian people as Mahatma, meaning great soul, was a paragon of the soulish man. The source of his being was his own soul. Thus, the Gandhis of his world are those who live a virtuous life through the inherent strength and energy of their soul life.
I as a Christian, in contrast, am a human being whose source is the Spirit of God who is indwelling and is in union (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19; John 14:17) with my human spirit (, pneuma) (Zech. 12:1; John 3:6, 4:24; Rom. 8:16). It is through this organic union (1 Cor. 6:17) with Christ and my participation in His life and nature (2 Peter 1:3-4) that I as a Christian possess the divine attributes of God and express them as my own human virtues (Gal. 5:22-23). What then is the difference between a Gandhi and a Christian? Quite simply, a Gandhi is a human being propelled by the power of his own soul life, while I as a Christian am a human being who is sustained by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:19) who is dwelling in my human spirit.
It is the clarity and experience of the truth such as the foregoing that drew me to the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and which keeps me in the fellowship of the local churches. In the local churches I am unafraid to search the Scriptures to find the whole truth. Just as the believers endeavored during the first century, we in the local churches today are endeavoring to advance God's administrative arrangement (, God's economy) (1 Tim. 1:3-4; Eph. 1:10, 3:9) for the building up of the Body of Christ, so that the corporate Christ--who is in organic union with His many members--can fully express God in glory for eternity (Eph. 1:23; Rev. 21:2).
J.C. | Back to List
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