I tell you the truth whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do it for me'

Matthew 25

Many Christians seem happy to equate Christianity with church attendance and or a knowledge of the bible. And although I wouldn't deny that Christians gatherings ‘when two or three are gathered together in my name' isn't a good thing there seems to be a refreshing absence of organized religion in the New Testament. Likewise I’m not saying that an understanding of the bible especially the gospels isnt a good thing but we must learn to let the words speak for themselves and not be tempted to ' play God' and reinterpret them.One thing that seems to me abundantly clear is that Jesus believed that actions speak louder than words we cannot be mannequin Christians .We must become engaged in the world by spreading his word through our deeds and that is how our faith will be judged.

The truth is that if we open our eyes and look around us we see suffering and need on all sides. You don't even have to turn on the TV it there in friends and family ,mental and physical , in the faces of beggars and tramps in our streets and those who clearly live in a spiritual void. As Christians we must reach out to them or risk others seeing the church as a social club based on a sham as Gandhi memorably wrote ' you must be the change you want to see in the world.’When we wipe away tears we are wiping away the tears of Christ.

So back to the church the problem is I believe we have allowed ourselves to loose touch with the central message of Christianity . Long winded sermons , endless rants against unbelievers, a relentless focus on the superficial,a substitution of the cross by the dollar. Look at the gospels Christ knew the hearts of men better than anyone we are after all his creation if we want a roadmap for full churches and a Christianity that is alive they are as far as we need to look.