Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A
Hindu, Ghandi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the
Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi he asked him,
"Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you
appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"
Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's
just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Apparently Ghandi's rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that
happened when he was a young man practising law in South Africa. He had become
attracted to the Christian faith, had studied the Bible and the teachings of
Jesus, and was seriously exploring becoming a Christian. And so he decided to
attend a church service. As he came up the steps of the large church where he
intended to go, a white South African elder of the church barred his way at the
door. "Where do you think you're going, kaffir?" the man asked Ghandi in a belligerent
tone of voice.
Ghandi replied, "I'd like to attend worship here."
The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for Kaffirs in this
church. Get out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the
steps."
From that moment, Ghandi said, he decided to adopt what good he found in
Christianity, but would never again consider becoming a Christian if it meant
being part of the church.
Applications: witness, mission, christlikeness, racism, racial prejudice, welcome, grace, judging, judgementalism
Source: information reported at pursuingchrist.com