If faith works how every religion says it works......

[tavarish]

Actually now that you mention it, the only rational way to test Christianity is to diligently test what Jesus actually said and promised, and see if it does what he says it will.

In that case the fastest way to find out would be to kill yourself.

Seriously, this is a horrible way to test this claim, as it is by its very nature unverifiable and subject to countless rationalizations and biases. If this method was valid, you would then have to test all other religious claims by the same merit, which would not only be a wild goose chase, but also a colossal waste of time and energy.

I propose a better solution:

In order to test the claims of Christianity, first define the claims, then produce evidence to support those claims that does not require one to already assume the claims are true. They have to be falsifiable to have any merit.

E.g he promised "rivers of living water flowing out of his innermost being" to believers. Also, rationally speaking, you would have to dump both your "I was raised Christian" and any simple minded anti-Christian philosophies at least temporarily.

Rationally speaking, you'd have to dump your preconceived notions of an afterlife or anything supernatural and revert to things that are demonstrable in order to make a reasonable conclusion that is consistent with reality. The "simple-minded anti-Christian philosophies" are simply observations, that you, with a rational mind, can take into account, if we are truly exploring the boundaries of reason.

And then, to claim a fully rational investigation, you would have to live by his standard in the sermon on the Mount to know if your life and those around you changed for the better. Correct?

No, because you haven't established what "better" is, not to mention your data would be invalidated with the claim that someone else's life got better by believing conflicting doctrines.

According to me and that dummy G.K Chesterton, and then James Madison (who said "the world lays in darkness for the wont of it)" yes, exactly. OK now I see the problem you are having. Again, lets talk specific statements in the sermon on the Mount by Jesus and then you tell me how many Christians follow it. OK? Then we'll move on to what he said to do with heretics, and you tell me when most Chrsitians figured that out.

This reeks of No true Scotsman. The word of Jesus is true, the problem is most Christians aren't real Christians anyway.

First define the term "Christian" in a way that it has general consensus, and go from there.