What Makes a Christian a Christian?
by: Walter Blackwood
What makes a Christian a Christian? It’s a question that everyone has an opinion on. Absolutely everyone, even those of other faiths and those who say they have no faith at all. Having come from a mixed and varied background myself, I have heard many theories on the subject ranging from: “A Christian is someone who needs a spiritual crutch” to “A Christian is someone who doesn’t break the Ten Commandments.” Let’s take a look at some of the questions and misconceptions of what Christianity is and what a Christian really is.
“A Christian is someone who goes to church on Sundays.”
What is church? A building? God’s house? According to scripture, the Church is the body of Christ, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Col 1:18 ESV) “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” (Eph 5:23 ESV) and we are that body, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Romans 12:5 ESV). We have an institution we call church so that we might have fellowship, “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3) and stay fruitful in our faith, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:4-5,7 ESV). In this world, Satan has made it abundantly easy to become disconnected from God through distractions. By gathering together we strengthen Christ’s presence in our lives, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20 ESV) and invite Him into a constantly renewed relationship, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20 ESV). We hold our gatherings on one day, a ‘Sabbath’ as Jesus instructed for “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8 ESV) So we can take rest in the Lord, and spend this time to bask in His holy presence. As to why we gather on Sunday; well, that’s a much deeper subject that in all honesty I have neither time nor inclination to approach today. Going to Church on Sunday is important for us to gain a closeness to Christ. To keep us accountable to each other and keep God foremost in our hearts, however; does this make you a Christian?
“A Christian is someone who tithes regularly to the Church.”
In a world that seems to revolve around the ‘almighty dollar’, it is no surprise that money had to come up eventually. Money has become the ‘idol’ to which man gives his praise. This road leads only one way because "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24 ESV). How much you should tithe, or what your tithes should go to are issues that I can best answer by saying, read what I said about ‘Sunday’ above. We tithe because God instructs us that it is important, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper” (1 Corinthians 16:2a ESV) and so we do not become lovers of money, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10 ESV). Don’t panic because you are called to tithe, God is your provider, not you and not your job, “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” (Psalms 34:9-10 ESV). So tithing is important. We are not to place money above God. Does this make you a Christian?
“A Christian is someone who… evangelizes, does missionary work, volunteers, feeds the homeless etc.”
These are all good and important works. Christ has called for us to evangelize and be missionaries, both at home and abroad, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). Jesus spoke of feeding the hungry and looking after those in need, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:35-40 ESV). This being said, we are not saved by our good works “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9 ESV). Good works or ‘fruits’ are the product of a right relationship with God, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4 ESV). They, however; are not the cause of our relationship. When we love God and walk as Christ walked we WANT to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11 ESV). But do these works define a Christian?
“A Christian is someone who believes in God.”
Of course believing in God is vital to faith, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:17 ESV) and is necessary to being a Christian, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18 ESV). However, consider this; “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19 ESV) Even demons believe in God! Judas heard every sermon Jesus spoke before the crucifixion. Jonah was a great prophet for the Lord, and today in the world there are millions of Orthodox Jews, Mormons, Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses that say they believe in God. Does that make any of them Christians?
Does believing in God make you a Christian? How about going to church, or tithing or doing good works? All of these are qualities that a Christian should have but “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:1-11 ESV). By turning our will and our lives over to Jesus Christ and by following Him “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35 ESV) we BECOME Christians. We learn to love, “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18 ESV) By learning to love we learn to seek God, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV) because, “we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16 ESV). And when we understand this the two great commandments Jesus put before us “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39 ESV) make sense. When we love God, we do good works not because He asks us to but because we WANT to please HIM. When we love the Lord we gather in fellowship to praise Him. When we look around us at the lost in this broken world that have not yet received Christ and experienced His love, we tithe so that the money can be used to spread His Kingdom to the ends of the earth. We go forth to reach every man, woman and child. Gathering them as Christ instructs us to. We let God use us for His purpose, His will, His glory; and when we finally let go of the white knuckle grip we have on our pitiful lives. When we turn our eyes from ourselves and place them on God. That is what makes a Christian a Christian.
“A Christian is someone who goes to church on Sundays.”
What is church? A building? God’s house? According to scripture, the Church is the body of Christ, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Col 1:18 ESV) “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” (Eph 5:23 ESV) and we are that body, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Romans 12:5 ESV). We have an institution we call church so that we might have fellowship, “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3) and stay fruitful in our faith, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:4-5,7 ESV). In this world, Satan has made it abundantly easy to become disconnected from God through distractions. By gathering together we strengthen Christ’s presence in our lives, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20 ESV) and invite Him into a constantly renewed relationship, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20 ESV). We hold our gatherings on one day, a ‘Sabbath’ as Jesus instructed for “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8 ESV) So we can take rest in the Lord, and spend this time to bask in His holy presence. As to why we gather on Sunday; well, that’s a much deeper subject that in all honesty I have neither time nor inclination to approach today. Going to Church on Sunday is important for us to gain a closeness to Christ. To keep us accountable to each other and keep God foremost in our hearts, however; does this make you a Christian?
“A Christian is someone who tithes regularly to the Church.”
In a world that seems to revolve around the ‘almighty dollar’, it is no surprise that money had to come up eventually. Money has become the ‘idol’ to which man gives his praise. This road leads only one way because "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24 ESV). How much you should tithe, or what your tithes should go to are issues that I can best answer by saying, read what I said about ‘Sunday’ above. We tithe because God instructs us that it is important, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper” (1 Corinthians 16:2a ESV) and so we do not become lovers of money, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10 ESV). Don’t panic because you are called to tithe, God is your provider, not you and not your job, “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” (Psalms 34:9-10 ESV). So tithing is important. We are not to place money above God. Does this make you a Christian?
“A Christian is someone who… evangelizes, does missionary work, volunteers, feeds the homeless etc.”
These are all good and important works. Christ has called for us to evangelize and be missionaries, both at home and abroad, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). Jesus spoke of feeding the hungry and looking after those in need, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:35-40 ESV). This being said, we are not saved by our good works “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9 ESV). Good works or ‘fruits’ are the product of a right relationship with God, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4 ESV). They, however; are not the cause of our relationship. When we love God and walk as Christ walked we WANT to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11 ESV). But do these works define a Christian?
“A Christian is someone who believes in God.”
Of course believing in God is vital to faith, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:17 ESV) and is necessary to being a Christian, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18 ESV). However, consider this; “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19 ESV) Even demons believe in God! Judas heard every sermon Jesus spoke before the crucifixion. Jonah was a great prophet for the Lord, and today in the world there are millions of Orthodox Jews, Mormons, Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses that say they believe in God. Does that make any of them Christians?
Does believing in God make you a Christian? How about going to church, or tithing or doing good works? All of these are qualities that a Christian should have but “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:1-11 ESV). By turning our will and our lives over to Jesus Christ and by following Him “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35 ESV) we BECOME Christians. We learn to love, “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18 ESV) By learning to love we learn to seek God, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV) because, “we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16 ESV). And when we understand this the two great commandments Jesus put before us “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39 ESV) make sense. When we love God, we do good works not because He asks us to but because we WANT to please HIM. When we love the Lord we gather in fellowship to praise Him. When we look around us at the lost in this broken world that have not yet received Christ and experienced His love, we tithe so that the money can be used to spread His Kingdom to the ends of the earth. We go forth to reach every man, woman and child. Gathering them as Christ instructs us to. We let God use us for His purpose, His will, His glory; and when we finally let go of the white knuckle grip we have on our pitiful lives. When we turn our eyes from ourselves and place them on God. That is what makes a Christian a Christian.
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