All Things Anne

The word “Christian,” in Greek, means (in simple terms) “Christ’s Man” or “Christ’s Follower.” When you say “I’m a Christian,” it should mean you are exactly that–a follower of Christ. Today, though, the word “Christian” has become two things: A label and a stereotype. When people say “Christian,” it doesn’t really mean they’re a follower of Christ; it means they think He’s cool. The Doobie Brothers sang “Jesus is just all right with me,” and nowadays when people say “Christian,” it means Jesus is just all right with them. He was a great teacher, maybe, but not the King of kings. An outstanding percentage of Americans claim to be Christians. Claim to, I say. According to a few websites I’ve found, between 77 percent and 85 percent of people in America claim to be Christians. That’s about seven or eight people out of ten. Most of the people you come in contact with call themselves “Christian,” and the sad part is, I’ll bet less than half have actually met Christ. What does being a Christian really mean?

Take a look at the word, itself: “Christian,” meaning “Christ’s Man” or “Christ’s Follower.” What does that remind you of? It reminds me of a little child following a parent around. Say you have a little boy, about three or four, who follows you around. He wants to be just like you when he grows up. What is he doing? He is following you. He is copying you. If you laugh, he’ll laugh along even if he doesn’t know why. If you look sad, he’ll look sad, too, even though he doesn’t know why. From you, he will learn about life. If you carry that analogy over, a “Christian” is one who wants to be like Christ. He follows Christ Jesus, walks like Him, talks like Him. Is concerned about the same things Jesus is. He learns about life from Jesus’ perspective. What percentage of Americans, or of the world, really, is concerned with things of Christ more than current conditions?

Nowadays, the PC term for black people is “African-American.” People aren’t content to be simply “Americans” anymore. Why do you think so-called “Christians” would be content to be followers of Christ? The answer is, they aren’t. They are Baptist-Christians, Lutheran-Christians, Presbyterian-Christians, Seventh Day Adventist-Christians, and Evangelical-Christians. The list goes on. Label upon label. What does that all really mean? I think it means they aren’t simply content in Christ. They have to find their niche. Their little hole in the wall, a bunch of people who agree with them and they can pat each other on the back. “Yeah, we’re for God! We’re for God!” they say in their holy huddle (i.e. church building), while bickering and disputing among themselves and further dividing the Body of Christ. What does God say His followers do? For one thing, His true followers are one in Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-26 “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

Ephesians 4:1-6 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

When somebody says, “I’m a Baptist!” they aren’t saying “I’m a follower of Christ,” they’re saying, “I’m a Baptist” and they automatically place themselves under the label of Baptist. They are committed to being a Baptist, whether or not Baptist theology agrees with the Bible, and if it doesn’t agree, they stubbornly refuse to change. After all, they’re a Baptist! Denominations are like countries. “I’m an American!” “I’m a Lutheran!” What’s the difference? “Oh, well Baptists and Seventh Day Adventists and Evangelicals and all those believe different things! I’m not a Lutheran, I’m a Presbyterian! I don’t agree with the Lutheran Church.” Why should you have to agree totally with the Lutheran Church? Sure, there’s going to be differences of opinion, but should it be enough to drive the Church apart? Of course not.

The first and foremost commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Therein should be our doctrine. Only God should matter. But why do we all believe different things (instead of taking the Bible at face value and applying it), and worse yet, divide the Church over our petty issues? The cause is Satan. God created the Church to be a body, the Body of Christ, as Corinthians says. Whenever God creates something beautiful, Satan of course has to destroy it. God is a creator, Satan is a destroyer. God created the Church to be beautiful, working beautifully together for the common goal: Christ. God is complete. God creates complete things. Satan destroys them. The Church was a complete thing. Unfortunately, Satan has divided it into sects. “I am of Paul.” “I am of Apollos.” Nobody is content to be of the One Living God anymore.

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal [Pertaining to flesh; fleshly; sensual; opposed to spiritual], as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?”

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

Titus 3:9-11 “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”

I think part of the reason marriages in the Church fail today, as well, is because they aren’t unified. Why should marriages be unified if the Church isn’t? If being committed to the Body of Christ with the common goal of Jesus is something to take lightly, why not marriage?

What are the other elements of a follower of Christ? We are salt and light to the rest of the world. Different.

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

There is a song that goes, “Don’t look at me if you’re looking for perfection, don’t look at me. I will only let you down. I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction, but don’t look at me, no no no…don’t look at me.” I find this a disturbing song, because in effect the writer is saying “I don’t have to be perfect, I don’t have to be a good example; I can’t be perfect so I won’t try!” This is a totally wrong attitude. We may not be perfect, but God calls us to be like Him, and He is perfect and sinless. We may be the only example of God some people have in their life! When you are in Christ, you are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Ephesians 5:8-10 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”

True Followers of Christ Bear Good Fruit

Matthew 3:8-10 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Matthew 7:16-23 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”

If you aren’t bearing fruit worthy of repentance–”repentance” means to think again and change directions…you can’t walk towards God and still be dabbling in the sins of the world, it’s one or the other–then you are not a follower of Christ.

The term “Christianity” has become just a label. A tag. A “get-out-of-hell-free” card. Pray a prayer and you’re good to go. (Did you know that Biblically speaking, praying a prayer isn’t necessary to become a follower of God? But that is another story.) However, to non-Christians, this is more than a label, it is a stereotype. The stereotypical Christian doesn’t live their life much differently than a “normal” person. This means they are quite hypocritical. They may wear a “WWJD?” bracelet, say they are a Christian, then talk trash and cuss like their non-Christian peers. Would Jesus do that? Of course not. Being a Christian, in non-Christians’ minds, means to become a hypocrite, and unfortunately they are very right in their assessment. Fortunately, however, being a Christian isn’t what Jesus is about. Jesus is what being a follower of Christ is about. To be a follower of Christ, you don’t have to posture. You don’t have to wear “Jesus junk” (WWJD bracelets, bumper stickers, etc). You just live your life like Jesus would. You follow Him. Learn the way Jesus did things. Instead of asking yourself “what would Jesus do?”, do it! That is why I reject the label, and the stereotype, of “Christian.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Am I a so-called Christian, with the behavior of a stereotypical “Christian”? Not in your life. Am I a follower of Christ Jesus, the Living God and True King? You bet!