Mohandas Gandhi, leader of the movement in India in the mid-twentieth century to gain independence from Great Britain, is reported to have said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Some suggest that Gandhi leaned toward Christianity for himself but changed his mind after observing Christians.

Christianity is alive and well, growing mightily in certain regions of the globe and even among some groups where it was supposed to be buried. Christendom, however, that European-centered common culture that Gandhi probably knew, began dying several hundred years ago. Gandhi’s words hint at the reasons.

The European church in the Middle Ages became increasingly corrupt and power hungry. Those who wanted to purify the church or who believed that the common person had the right to read the Bible in his or her own language were persecuted.

Then the Reformation movements of the 1500’s gave promise of a revival of Christianity in Europe. Instead, that promise was eclipsed by the religious wars that followed. In the name of religion, conflicts killed thousands, led to massive refugee flows, and devastated parts of Europe. Not surprisingly, some began to see religion as the problem and to search for other ways of ordering society.

As Europeans gained world power, they too often exploited native peoples in other regions, as in India. Their practices lessened the impact of Christians who came as missionaries, not conquerors.

We Christians sometimes act as though the truths of our faith are self-evident and that people who disagree with us are either idiots or morally deficient. We have to learn anew that the way we live carries more influence than our words.