“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV
My last post was a discussion
about Jesus and Religion. I want to continue that with further discussion as to
what is Christianity. And to quote C.S. Lewis again, “For God humbled himself to become man, so religion humbled itself to
become Christianity.” Now this quote really caught my attention. The idea
that religion humbled itself to become Christianity just resonated within me.
One can write many books on this topic, so I will try
my best to do it in but a few short paragraphs and still come up with a
justifying answer.
So what makes
someone or something Christian?
Is it voting
Republican?
Is it being prolife?
Is it going to
church every Sunday?
Is it reciting a
prayer?
Is it a genre of
music?
Is it a religion?
Is it a worldview?
Is it a list of
rules?
When we think of ‘Christian’
we think of it in two ways, as a religion and as a type of label. And I’ve
notice, we love trying to clarify and reform that label.
“I’m not a
Christian, I’m a Christ Follower.”
(Which is just saying the same exact
thing.)
Sometimes we get so
fixated on the label, that the label itself will lose all of its meaning. The
label becomes dead. My best example of when a label loses its meaning and
purpose is with Religion. Then labels become weapons to throw at and divide
people.
We are not labels, we
are more than just mere words. We are souls.
When I was in high
school, my nickname was Jesus. The nickname was a weird combination of people
being aware of what I believed in and my long hair. At first, I couldn’t tell
if people were making fun of me, but then I realized it was like a term of
endearment and an acknowledged statement of who I was. And having Jesus as my
nickname was a pretty good reminder of who and what I represented.
When we describe
Christians, oftentimes we are called the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World,
a City on a Hill. We just hear the words but not the meaning anymore or it was
never really explained as to what that means.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that the may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matt 5:13-16 ESV
When salt loses its
saltiness, it is useless.
When a label loses
its purpose, it is useless. Even if that label is Christian.
We are supposed to
be a light in this world, to stand up like a light upon a light stand, a city
on a hill.
So what is my answer as to what makes
someone or something Christian?
It’s a choice. It’s a daily choice to…
To make God bigger in my life. I must decrease so He may increase (John 3:30)To love God with all my heart, mind and soul, and to love my neighbor (Matt 22:37-40).To love my enemies (Matthew 5:43-47)To die to my selfish ambitions and give all my life away. To be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2)To uphold the law (Romans 3:31)
When this change happens
in your heart and in your mind, (Ephesians 4:22) and it will directly change
how you live.
“But the aim of our instruction is love the comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith…Now we know that the law is good, if one uses is legitimately.”
1 Timothy 1:5, 8
ESV
If we are to ‘reclaim’
religion, we have to acknowledge the wrongs that have been selfishly committed
for the sake of ‘christian religion’. The only we can do that is to humble ourselves,
confess our wrongs, be legitimately sorry about it, and do something to change.
But, if I had to
pick a ‘label’, I want to go back to the beginning. I think this is the one
that best sums up the miracle, the love He has for us and the responsibility we
have:
Image Bearer
“So God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them.”
Genesis 1:27a ESV
I hear it as a positive thing, as an insult but never in the same way. What do you think it means?
I so agree with you Kristen. We are called to be like Christ and we can only do that with the help of His Spirit working in us. We do not have the ability to be like Christ without His help. When we try to do it on our own, in our own strength, we end up with religion. We do need to acknowledge where we have fallen short, where we have missed the mark, confess it, repent of it and begin to let Christ live through us as He is so desiring to. It is His love that changes hearts, His touch that sets free and heals, His wisdom that goes beyond this realm. We need Him so desperately as souls are perishing all around us and we are worried about ourselves and our own things. God help us get this message!!! Love ya, EZ
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that in high school your nickname was Jesus. If your peers meant it out of respect, you should have been flattered. But if they meant it as an insult, you should still have been flattered because you would have been suffering for the namesake of Christ! I love that in either instance, whether you know the Truth behind the nickname or not, it should be taken as a compliment.
ReplyDeleteBut you bring up a good point. With a country that claims to be 86% Christian, the reality of the matter is that a far lesser number actually would be an authentic representative as an Image Bearer. To your initial thought, in our culture, the term "Christian" has become a dumb-downed label. And I would argue to redeem the label, we as authentic believers need to separate ourselves from the world in terms of the way we live our lives. If a non-believer were to see no difference in our life as believers, why should we expect them to desire to be any different in the way they live (let alone see Christianity as anything of significance)?
I am reminded of the early church. After Christ ascended back into heaven and the church was established, early believers were so different in the way that they lived that their selfless love for one another attracted non-believers to faith in droves.
Likewise, if we continue to seek to honor the Lord with our lives, if worship Him with our actions, if we strive our best to follow His instruction (though we are not perfect in our humanity), we as Image Bearers will be seen as different... And I would hope that the watered down label could be redeemed from the depths as we distinguish the characteristics of true Christianity through the example of our lives.
Very thought provoking. Thank you for sharing!