Basic HTML Version
INSEARCHOF
A REALCHRISTIAN
Believe
it
or not, one of the world's strangest, rarest
creatures is an individual called a Christian. This
challenging article takes you on an imaginary search for a
person who matches the biblical definition.
M
i llions upon milli o ns of
people feel they a re C h ris–
tia ns. tha t is, they a re be–
lievers in the C hrist ia n re li gion . as
o pposed to the beüe fs of is lam ,
Budd ha, o r J udai sm . But o nce
beyo nd the vague La bel of " C hr is–
tian," a ll simi larity s to ps. "C hris–
ti a n s ." it se ems, come in eve ry
co nce ivable brand, s tripe. a nd de–
scr ipt io n - every size, shape, a nd
ideal.
" Chri tiani ty." having unde rgone
a n evolu tio n in mea ni ng from the
fi rs t cen tu ry to the maze o f con–
fu sing. confl icting be lie fs a nd prac–
tices cla iming the same till e today, is
an inc rcas ingly d iffi c ult wo rd to de–
fin e. Hundred s upon hundred s o f
o rga niza tio ns c laim the titl e "Ch ris–
tia n"; yet th ey may be so o pposed to
one anothe r - not o oly in theology
and theory, but a lso in sorne cases in
acti ve in te rnecine wa rfa re - that
they cons tit ute the bi tte res t o f ene–
mi es.
in search of Chrístíans
But suppose you were to conduct an
ex pe riment. By using t he
Bible defi–
nirion
o f "Ch ris tia n' ' - meani ng the
p la in . simple, impossible-to- be-mi s–
undcrstood scriptu res clea r ly de fin–
in g
JU
t wha t ts mca nt by the name
- s u ppose yo u c mbarked o n a
sea rch to find such pcople?
Firs t, you wo u ld fo rcarm yourse lf
by going thro ug h your Bible, ca re–
f'ully no ting th e many scriptures tha t
de fin e the wo rd "Chris ti an"- espe–
cia lly combing the New Tes tame nt
which comai ns the ve ry hea rt, roo t.
a nd core of the teachings o f C h ris t.
You may even wa nt to con ult a
dic ti onary or a pop ul a r encyclope–
d ia.
F ine ! Yo u a re now read y to be-
28
b y
Garner Ted Armstro ng
g in. But how wo uld yo u do it. a nd
whe re would you look?
Sho u ld such a sea rch beg in wit h
th e la rge. mu lt imillion-membe r o r–
ga n iza tio ns whose steep led edifi ces
dot the land? O r ins tead among
tiny , s truggling miss iona ry groups?
Or pe rha ps a mo ng th e va r io us
n e w ly o rg a n ized yo u t h g r oups
claiming to be God's own child ren?
Wo uld your sea rch a lso take you
into hea lt h food stores o r to commu–
na l se ttlemen ts tucked away in se–
cl uded h ills? Wo uld it lead yo u in to
busy o ffices o n Wall Stree t? Wo uld
it b ring you face-to-face wi t h mi li–
ta ry ba rr icades ma nned by soldie rs
a rmed with submach ine g uns? Jus t
such a scene was ca p ti o ned
"Chris–
tian
gunmen "
in a recenl newspa pe r
p ict ure.
God's Dí lemma
Sho uld yo u have co nducted your
search d uring the d a rkest days o f
Wo rld Wa r
f,
you could have scen
th e fo llowing scena r io:
Picture it in your m ind's eye. An
Ame rican so ldie r crouchi ng in an
A ll ied lr e nch in Eu ro pe s lo wl y
comes in to fu
U
focus. Shell s a re
s hrie king ove rhead . a nd the nigh t is
pu nctua ted wil h the sha tte r and
spa tter of mach ine-g un a nd rifle
bu ll c ts. This sold ier is sca red ha lf
out of his wils. Tea rs are s treaking
th e mud o n his face, and a rosa ry is
in his r igh t ha nd . He is ea rncst ly
praying to G od fo r physica l a lva–
tio n. fo r pro teclio n rrom his encmy.
a nd fo r vic lory in th e wa r so he ca n
go back bo rne to mom, girl friend ,
an d job.
Abo ut th ree hundred ya rds to the
ea t is the enemies' trench . l n th is
o ne you sudd enly see a young.
blo nde. good-looking kid wi th a
s traight nose and s ta rtl ing bl ue eyes.
He's sporti ng o ne o f lhose fun ny–
looking he lme ts wi lh a li tt le spike in
th e to p of it. He. too, is crouched in
th e comer ha lf-crazed wit h fear.
ca re fully c rad ling a rosary in his
ha nds. And he happens to be p ray–
ing
1he same prayer
to t he same
God .
God 's go t a problcm he re . How
wou ld he d ecide wh ich o ne o f those
boys was going to livc? Which o ne
o f them is a rea l C hris tia n?
In the Middle Ages
Yo ur search ta kes you back to the
M idd ie Ages. Sure ly you could fi nd
a tr ue Chris tian then . J u-sl look fo r
the sig n o f thc cross; or maybe the
ft ashi ng blad e of a b lood-soaked
sword ca tchi ng the glin t ofthe d y ing
sun as it was d is membe ri ng the
body o f yet a no ther " in fi d el. ' " Look
in t o th e duugeo ns o f medieva l
"Chris tian ity." whe re hap less vic–
tims we rc pul lo d ea th o n th e rack
or burned a t the stake . Some p rofes–
sing ·'Chris tia ns" of tha t day could
be found ring ing a lown sq ua re o f a
l iny vill age ha ml et, the ir eyes pro–
trud ing in sad is tic d elig ht a l the
dea th críes of a n a lleged "witch ," as
the hooded executio ne r tossed his
blazing torch a t he r fee t.
T rue be lieve rs? T rue Christians?
Whcre lO fi nd lhem - how to sca rch
- whe re to bcgin?
A Christían Scene?
A n im ag in a ry time -machi ne t n–
Sla ntly ushers you back into the
twentie th century . [t's the midd le of
win ter - 1976. Yo u are escorted by
au lomo b ile in to 1he be t resid entia l
a rea o f a la rge Ame ri can ci ty in the
Middl e Wes t. T he sun is s i11king low
in the sky, but it 's st ill daylight.
The
PLAIN
TRUTH June 1976