What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?

“Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)” (Acts 11:25-26 NLT)

We’ve grown so accustomed to hearing the now familiar word (“Christian”) we rarely, if ever, stop to consider why we are referred to as Christian or what it means. Not so much now, but when I was growing up, you’d often hear the United States of America referred to as a “Christian” nation. Then, most Americans attended church and sought to be decent, moral people. Not so much now.

Originally, “Christian” was used in a derogatory way to refer to what people believed to be very different kinds of behavior that bucked the norm and brought to question the sinful actions of those who didn’t believe. However, over time, as more and more people joined the “weird” people who genuinely loved each other and openly cared for those in need, the church grew, and the term came to be used in a much more positive way.

Today “Christian” can often refer to individuals or groups of “religious” people who participate in practices that may not be totally based on Biblical teachings, as those in earlier generations were very careful to do. It seems anyone can be “Christian” today if they know the lingo and can find a few people to agree with them.

C.S. Lewis paints a different picture when he writes: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” One test that challenges us is forgiving the one(s) who have sinned against us. We want to be justified in our anger and unforgiveness, when in reality there’s nothing anyone could do to us or take from us that compares with the price God paid for our redemption.

It’s always a moving experience for me to remember when, after 12 years, Mary Johnson forgave her 16-year-old son’s killer, Oshea Israel (click on Mary’s name to read or listen to their story). The first thing that often enters our thoughts, even as a believer, is retribution. Things fill our mind like “prison’s too good for them, even death.” Or “Why, Lord, why would you allow this horrible atrocity to occur? Haven’t I been faithful? What did I ever do to deserve this tragedy?”

These and a thousand other questions fill our mind, but nothing that life could ever do to us compares with the price God the Father and Jesus, His only Son, paid to give us the privilege of being forgiven and becoming a child of God. If you want a snapshot of your closeness to God, record your response when someone hurts your feelings, short-changes you in a business transaction, or cuts you off in traffic.

 You may wrongly believe you’re above those kinds of responses, but you can lie to the person in the mirror. It scares me sometimes, spiritual “giant” that I am (yeh, right!) how quickly I allow myself to get upset with my wife over nothing. She’s the gentlest, kindest, most caring and compassionate person I’ve ever known, yet, in a millisecond I can snap at her like she’s my worst enemy.

Trust me when I say, we never arrive this side of heaven. We will wrestle with wrong attitudes and actions until the day we die, but, by God’s wonderful grace, we can get better, not only at holding our tongue and temper, but at forgiving and accepting forgiveness much more quickly.

That’s not the whole story as to what it means to be a Christian, but it’s certainly an important part.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊