Under “religious views” on her Facebook profile, my wife lists the simple phrase “Jesus-follower.” She uses that explanatory term to avoid political and cultural connotations associated with the word Christian. In some cultures, people are “born Christian.” But that is a misunderstanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Ironically, a friend of mine in the United Kingdom asked me not to use “Jesus-follower” to describe Christians. It seems that in his culture, the problem is reversed.
My friend told me, “The tag ‘Follower of Jesus’ has been used to muddy the waters between those who have a committed relationship to Christ and those in other faith systems.” He noted that some regard Jesus as a great man but still less than what He claimed to be. Something less than the unique, virgin-born Messiah. Something less than the sinless Lamb of God who was crucified for our sins. Something less than the resurrected Jesus.
So what is a Christian? Paul gave us a solid definition in Romans 8. A Christian is one who has been set free from slavery to sin and its sentence of death. “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus,” Paul wrote. “The power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1-2). Real Christianity should also have accompanying evidence. “You are controlled by the [Holy] Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you,” he added. “And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all” (Romans 8:9).
“All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God,” Paul concluded (Romans 8:14). “His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” (v.16). That’s not something political or cultural. It’s relational!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 25:1-27
More:
Christians have been set free from sin, but what does Romans 7:14-25 say about our ongoing struggle?
Next:
What does it mean to you to be a Christian? How would your unsaved friends and acquaintances answer that question?
bluefigtoast on November 14, 2011 at 1:26 am
I use the term/phrase “faith based.”
Seems it is very broad, and doesn’t offend people from other cultures, but it also identifies me, perhaps covertly, as a Christian.
My thoughts.
Wayno
dabac on November 14, 2011 at 9:17 am
What’s wrong with the term “Disciple”?
We all call ourselves disciples in the church. The term “disciple” is very frequent in the NT, and term “christian” is used few times. Acts 11:26: “…And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians”
tim gustafson on November 14, 2011 at 9:41 am
Whatever we call ourselves, perhaps it is important that we use it as an opportunity to explain to our acquaintances exactly what that means. “Disciple” seems like a very interesting term that will get people to ask questions. And dialogue is always good.
bearpair on November 14, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Excellent thoughts, Tim. Some of the FB comments seem to fall into the category of “who are we desiring to please…” Personally, I like the one I recently saw, “Servant of Jesus Christ.” The bottom line seems that, if we mention Jesus Christ, any dissenters/questioners always have the option to contact us, providing us an opportunity to more fully discuss Who we belong to and what their response could be. Thanks, Tim!
regina franklin on November 14, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Dear Tim–great post. Titles do not determine identity–our actions reveal who we are–but terminology can be a means of communication to those around us. However, those terms are only as effective as we live them out in relationship with Christ and others (Luke 6:46).
Irene_Ukraine on November 15, 2011 at 3:54 am
yes, there are “Atheists for Jesus” in Britain.. )
I describe myself just as “Christian” on Internet to avoid being viewed in the terms of a particular church. in Ukraine, it is common to list a specific denomination: “Orthodox”, “Catholic”, “Evangelical” etc.
on one network though, I wrote “nominal Christian” in my profile to raise awareness about the problem that I and other people here face: being baptised or “born” Christians without practicing our faith.
winn collier on November 16, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Sometimes it seems more important what others call us than what we call ourselves, i.e. what do our fruits say? the fruits of being one who, as you see, has been set free.