What does it mean to be a Christian? In the early days of the church the term Christian was actually used in a derisive way to describe these people and it was taken on as a common name. If memory serves me, it literally means little Christ. I don't exactly get why that was an offense, but I digress.
If you do a study in the New Testament of what “Christians” are labeled as, you will find that it is not what we call ourselves inside the church. Yes, there is the collective singular noun “the Church” but there is also another label by which followers of Jesus are called. Paul was very fond of this particular nomenclature, as he used it heavily in his Epistles. What is this label you ask? “Those who are in Christ Jesus.” How is that any different from being called a Christian? I hope that there is no difference at all practically, but the implications of these two different labels are great. Christian, as it has come to be used today, often implies something somebody can be, or become. It is as if someone adds another characteristic to their life. Like mason, or boy scout, or marine. Can you be any one of these and be a Christian? Yes. But our modern understanding and use of the term implies that being Christian is no more than being in a club or belonging to a group. Do you pay your dues? Attend a meeting here and there? Do you look and act like everyone else in the club? It is a great misfortune that this claim could be levied against the church today. Are we not more than a social club? Paul’s label, those who are in Christ Jesus, implies a much more accurate picture of the Christian life. To be in something is to be consumed by it, to be fully immersed and involved. There is nothing of you that is outside of what it is that you are in. Consider this, if you are in a car, there is no part of you outside of the car. Sure, you can stick an arm or a leg out the window, but how many of us really want to do that? Don’t we ride around with out windows up and the air conditioning on? While this metaphor might be somewhat lacking, it conveys the simple idea that if you are in something, that’s what you are. You cannot be both in and out of a vehicle. In the same way you cannot be both in and out of Christ, there is no middle ground. Why does this matter? Both of these labels influence how we see ourselves. Is being a Christian something you limit to a night or two a week? That you pay your tithe and call it a day? Or are you so fully immersed in the grace of God that every moment of your life is affected and directed by the Holy Spirit? Which do you think is of God and pleasing to him? In my time at Good News Baptist Church, it is my hope and desire that we shift our view of ourselves from being a Christian to being fully immersed in the goodness and grace and mercy of the Lord, radically shaping the world around us through the power of the Holy Spirit. What sounds more like the church to you: social club or radical agent of change? |
Pastor MorganMorgan has been writing since middle school and worked for a year writing professionally as a news journalist for the Daily Tribune in Gallipolis. This blog is a chance for him to express his love for the Lord and all church related things through writing. Archives
December 2019
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