Who or what is a Christian?

I remember as a young boy (4 or 5 yrs old) being in church with my family and hearing repeatedly that you needed to believe in Jesus in order to have eternal life. I remember thinking about this and knowing I needed to believe in Jesus. However, I remember thinking extensively "how do I believe?" (That is deep for 5). I questioned and tried to understand. If I felt doubt at times, did that mean I didn't believe, and therefore that I wouldn't be saved from hell? Would I get to go to heaven? It was scary and made me worry.

Undoubtedly what I was hearing was based off Romans 10:9, which states "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (NIV). This certainly supports my beliefs as a boy, but in the greater context of Romans this message is lacking something vital: faith.

My former definition of a Christian, though I certainly did not know it at the time, was someone who intellectually believes that Jesus is who he says he is. At that point I believed a Christian was merely somebody who went to church or was born in a Christian home. Now, intellect certainly plays a pivotal part in becoming a Christian because we must believe that God's word is true and that Jesus was who He said He was. We have tremendous historical evidence regarding the integrity and authenticity of the scripture that has been accumulated and reanalyzed and tested over hundreds of years. In fact, we have more historical evidence from both Christian and non-christian texts than we do for the defeat of of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo (1). That is simply remarkable.

Perhaps as a child I wrestled with this because I was relying on emotions. While emotions often follow intellect, I had understood the basic Gospel message but did not feel different. I didn't feel forgiven. I still felt like a kid who wanted to punch his sister and smash things with hammer. I didn't understand why if I believed it was true, I didn't feel any different.

Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, said that he believed a wrong emphasis on emotions caused more people to lack the assurance of a vital relationship with God than any one thing (1). I would believe this. I know from my own life that emotions can fail to match what I am truly thinking and understanding. If we rely just on how we feel after making a decision to accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers, and do not support this with trust, we risk falling away.

We should also remember that we are all different and come from different backgrounds. So, when we accept Christ the immediate results may look very different. I have had friends who were held captive by different sins in their lives and the moment they accepted the forgiveness Christ offers they were completely new people. I also have many friends who have grown up in "churched" homes or the "christian" bubble and have had a longer process of coming to faith and growing. We are simply different people from different backgrounds, and we can thank God for that.

The other problem with mere intellectual belief is that without faith it would make me no different than a historian. Sure, I find it true but I am not doing anything about it. We are neglecting to account for the need for will and action. A Christian is literally a Christ-follower or a "little Christ", meaning that the knowledge of the truth of his life and resurrection is accompanied by action. We often call ourselves 'believers' but we must remember we are followers. The scripture is clear that people will know we are Christians by our action.

In John 15:10 we see Jesus saying to his disciples "If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." Then in verses 13 and 14 he says, "greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command." Now I am not saying that we are saved by works (we will save that for another day) but that being Christian involves action. The works are a result of the faith we have in Christ. It the difference between intellectually acknowledging that a plane can fly and actually stepping on board and taking off. One involves faith resulting in action. Action is a vital step and the sign of a true believer.

To tie this all together and sum it up, we must remember that to be a Christian, we must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As Bill Bright described it, there are essentially 4 spiritual laws or 4 things we must know and understand before we can begin that relationship with God.

"The first is that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Second, man is sinful and separated from God; thus he cannot experience God's love or plan. Third, Jesus Christ is God's only provision man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan. Fourth, we must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; Then we can know God's love and plan" (1)

By understanding these four things and accepting that gift of grace and forgiveness that comes through faith, we restore our broken relationship with God and can again access His love and plan. We can do this through prayer expressing our desire for just that, since prayer and delving into the scriptures are sure fire ways to communicate with God and live out that relationship.

I hope this brief blog entry has helped you understand what it means to truly believe in Jesus Christ. Maybe you are a mature Christian who already understands these. Awesome! If this is the case, I'd encourage you to be prepared to give witness to others and help them understand the reason for the hope and joy you have. Even others Christians can struggle to really understand this. I did. Perhaps you were like me when I was younger and never put together what it really means to be a Christian, or maybe you just never really thought about it. If this is the case I'd highly encourage you to check out the book of 1 John. However, if you are still questioning the intellectual basis, that is if Jesus is legitmate I'd encourage you to read the Gospel of John (same author as 1 John) and check out a book called "More than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell.

-Seth

(1) Bright, Bill (1998) How to be sure you are a christian. New Life Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. pp.1-2