When We Say We're "Christian"

As I begin this, I honestly don't know if its headed in the direction of diatribe or apologetic, but I was looking at a few Facebook profiles recently, and was struck by the frequency with which people refer to themselves as "Christian."  I was struck, too, by people who seem to refuse that term, favoring "Follower of Christ" or something along those lines.  Now, for the purposes of this particular entry, I don't want to debate the differences that people see in those two terms, nor do I wish to support one or the other.  Since it's faster to type, and since it's overwhelmingly used to describe a certain group of people, I'll just stick with "Christian" for today.


I'm not passing judgment on a single individual, regardless of what you post on Facebook regarding your religion.  Let's just get that out of the way.


But here's what troubles me:  when we say we're "Christians", what do we mean?  What should we mean?  How can we identify people who are authentically Christians (not because we should, but if we, perhaps, could...)?  I think I just struggle with this because it's really easy to say that we are (or aren't) something, but we may not actually be it.


Here's an analogy that I realize is loaded with holes, but I think it still demonstrates this point for the moment:  say I were to tell you that I am a South African citizen.  I might look like I could be from South Africa.  I might have even studied all of South Africa's history, I might have read all of the works of South Africa's greatest poets, I might have even visited South Africa on several occasions.  These things are all well and good, but the ability to recite the population/GDP/DMB songs doesn't a South African citizen make.


My point is this: we can read the Bible daily, we can learn all of the hymns, we can go to church, etc., but those things, while of great importance (and don't misunderstand me to be saying anything to minimize any of these things), are not sufficient in their ability to make me a Christian.  In fact, some of the most well-read Bible scholars I've met are adamantly UN-Christian.  They value the Bible as an important historical document (which it is), and some will concede that there's probably some larger force, but will also say that, perhaps, that force may not exclusively be God as Christians understand God to be.  Or, there's no God at all, but if I really need something like that to help me get through the day, then they dare not take it away from me (but, secretly, I'm crazy, and wasting a lot of time worshiping nothing, rather than living my life, over which, in their view, I have exclusive control).


And, allow me to be very honest here, even at the expense of sounding a shade heretical: there is stuff in the Bible that is incredibly hard to believe.  I'm not saying it's not true, but it seems totally outside the realm of possibility.  For instance, have you READ Numbers 22?  Balaam and his...talking donkey?!  Really?  That just seems so completely ridiculous.  And, there are inconsistencies: In one part of Genesis, Noah is told to take sets of 2 animals aboard the ol' ark.  Later, he's told to take 7 pairs of some types of animals.  Now, without venturing into the world of "infallibility" versus "inerrancy", let it just be said that scholars have noticed this, and have asked the same questions.  And yet, even with all of this, lots of people claim Christianity in their own lives.


I think that, perhaps, we ought to look at things that we can rule out as "defining Christians" to help arrive at an answer.  I've already mentioned that reading the Bible, going to church, knowing hymns, etc. doesn't make us Christian.  I don't think anyone would disagree that one's "status" cannot be determined based on their decision to celebrate Christmas and/or Easter.  It's also true that we're not born into Christianity (even if we're born into a Christian family).  And, really, even if we know the right answers that the Bible offers (the wage of sin is death, the only way to the Father is through the Son, grace is given freely, Jesus wins, etc.), this still does not mean that we can call ourselves Christians.


It's easy to know.  It's much harder to believe.  And it's harder, still, to live a life that reflects these beliefs, which we take from a millennia-old text, attempt to understand in the context of our own lives, and hope to convey to others who often think we're:


crazy/stupid/naive/misguided/judgmental/closed-minded/hypocritical/idiotic/wrong.


And it's even harder when we worry that they might be right.


I do think that grace plays a gigantic role, but it's a concept that I can't pretend to understand well enough to satisfactorily exposit upon it here (nor do I have the time).  And, even if that's true, we're told that grace is available for everyone, even those who don't actually buy into it, and so there must be some sort of human response that allows someone to say, "Ok, I know all of the facts, I've read all of the history, I buy into the whole 'grace' thing, and I'm grateful for it, and here's how I want to show that all of this stuff actually matters to me."  


Ephesians 2:8-9 says: ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast.


Doing good does not make us faithful.  Doing good should be a byproduct of believing that the things that we hold to be true are important enough to live a life that reflects them.  And this is where we fail so often.  It's on this point, I think, that so many people are right to call us out as hypocrites (among other things).  I'm not saying that I am any more capable of being perfect than you (and, were that true, then I wouldn't need God to save me anyway).  We will all continue to make mistakes.  And even the most diligent, careful reader probably has a few things wrong.  But that's not the issue.  The issue is this: if we acknowledge that the Bible, though having some ridiculous-hard-to-believe-and-or-understand-gobbledeegook, contains truths that are both life-changing and life-giving, but we live in a way that reflects belief in something (anything!) else, then people have every right to judge us.  Because we are wrong.  We may not think that we're wrong, because we still have the truth of Scriptures to fall back on, but that's the thing:  the Scripture doesn't change.  The Scripture doesn't become wrong.  We do.  But when we live in a way that demonstrates not only that Scripture doesn't change, but that we believe in its power exactly as it is (and I mean really live that way), then no one ought to be able to honestly utter a word to the contrary.  And that, I think, is when we can at last say that we are Christian.


**P.S.: I plan to follow this up with at least 2 or 3 other entries.  One will deal with the actual application of this assertion.  Another will explore how to deal with the (very real) issue that you and I may both believe we're doing this well, but may have mutually exclusive ways of showing it.  A third will look most specifically at how we (regardless of affiliation) look at homosexuality/gender identity/etc.  You may not agree with me at all, but I hope you'll listen, and I hope you'll respond.**