What is a Christian?
In acts 11:26 we read at the end of the verse that “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Keep in mind that Jesus didn’t label his followers as Christians, in fact the time period in Acts 11:26 was about 43A.D. that’s approximately 10 years after the crucifixion of Christ.
The word Christian is misunderstood and misused in a lot of ways these days. It seems few people really know what a Christian is. People tend to think that they can call themselves Christians just because they belong to a church. Maybe they don’t even go to church but they think because they know a little about Jesus and who he is they can claim Christianity, because after all they do believe in him. What they don’t know is that in James 2:19-20 it says “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless.” You can’t play Christian by claiming a belief in Christianity!
Then there are those who will even attack real Christians because they don’t fit the mold of what people think Christians should be. Which more cases than not people think a Christian should be perfect. That too is based on their idea of perfection, not necessarily from a biblical view on what perfection is. Take the pastor in Colorado who was recently in the news. He had an awesome ministry but he let the devil get a hold of him. The world sees this and thinks, this guy was a preacher, he is supposed to be perfect, how could he do such a thing. But we need to remember, Jesus was the only perfect man who has ever set foot on earth.
So today I want to look at the word Christian and see what it really means. So I have titled this message is “What is a Christian?” “The definition of a Christian is-a disciple or follower of Christ.” And no one wants to follow or be discipled by someone that they don’t believe in. So a Christian is a believer, a follower, and a disciple.
The first thing about a Christian is that they are a believer. What they believe in is God and his word. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” For a Christian there is no debate as to if there is a God. There simply is to much evidence that God is real. Romans 1:20 NLT says “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
As Christians we believe that God created man to be like him. But man turned his back on God and in doing so death was brought into the world. But God did not make man to be destroyed in death. God loved us so much that he made a way through his son Jesus Christ for us to be brought back to God. Ours sins of turning our back on God needed justice for them to be forgiven. The justice that had to be done was a perfect sacrifice. Jesus was that perfect sacrifice. He died on the cross to pay for our sins so we could come to God again and live.
What we believe is that whoever believes in what Jesus has done and accepts him as Lord and Savior will be saved from the wrath of and eternal separation from God according to John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” These are the things that a Christian believes. We believe it because in our hearts we know it is true. God has caused us to know it by the conviction that we feel in our hearts. This conviction is caused by the Holy Spirit. This belief is what causes us to turn to Jesus and make him Lord of our lives.
Secondly a Christian not only believes, but follows. We follow Jesus as he commanded in Mark 8:34-35 “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” We are to lay our lives down. To follow Jesus is to have a personal relationship with him. It isn’t just a Sunday thing. Everywhere we go Jesus is there. We must take him with us. It’s like having American express credit card, we shouldn’t leave home without him. Going to church because Jesus is there isn’t following Jesus. Jesus is at church but you should have him at your house, in your car, at work, and any other place you are. We also need to spend time with him and be discipled of him. True Christians follow Jesus!
We should be like a puppy. The puppy follows his master everywhere, he watches with excitement and curiosity every move that is made. He learns his masters habits and recognizes his voice when he calls because the puppy has spent time with his master. The only way we can truly make Jesus our master is to learn about him and from him and to follow him.
The third thing that makes us a Christian is probably the most misunderstood or underused areas of all three. A Christian not only is a believer, and a follower, but they are a disciple! The word disciple means one who is disciplined. Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” We don’t stop learning more about Jesus, but we learn to be like Jesus. A Christian should strive to do what Christ wants. The bible says a Christian should guard his mouth to keep from speaking foul language, and to say no to the attempts of the adulteress. He not only learns from Gods word how he should be, but he attempts to be it, he acts on it.
This does not mean a Christian is perfect as some think they should be if they are a real Christian. The Bible says we are not perfect, but a Christian should discipline them selves to do what God wants. A Christian will fall at times but he will pick himself up and try to be better. People watch every move you make as a Christian. They want to see if you are what they think you should be as a Christian. They judge your life based on your actions and words. And don’t get me wrong, it is because of some of our actions as Christians that Christianity is becoming watered down. If we act like all of the non-Christians around us then before long it becomes ok in our minds to do the worldly things that we are not supposed to do. The problem is we are not perfect. But being perfect is not what being disciplined means. It means only that we try to be better today than we were yesterday. We try to be as God wants us to be.
When we discipline our children is it because we think they should be perfect? We don’t do it because of that. We discipline our children because we want them to be better than they are acting. We want to make them better. We know they will never be perfect, we just want them to continue to be better. That’s how God is with us, he knows we are not perfect. He just wants us to at least try to be better. And with his help we can do this. Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
This world is full of false Christians, people who claim to be Christians but really don’t know Jesus, people who think they have to be perfect in order to be a Christian. But God called you to follow him and to whole heartedly make an effort to do the things he wants, and to not do the things he doesn’t want you to do. He doesn’t want you to be some “holier than thou” hypocrite! He just wants you to try. That’s what being a disciple really is, it’s being disciplined enough to try to do right.
The best way to discipline your self in the ways of Jesus is to read the Bible. A man by the name of Howard Hendricks once said, “Dusty Bibles always lead to dirty lives. In fact, you are either in the Word and the Word is conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ, or you are in the world and the world is squeezing you into its mold.” If we are going to be more like Christ we have to get into our Bibles and find out more about him and his life.
But all of the things I have talked about have to be done in order. Mathew 4:18-20 says, “18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him. These guys apparently believed in Jesus and who he was or they wouldn’t have left everything they had to follow him. Then as they followed Jesus he taught and trained them. So we have to be believers before we can follow and follow before we can be taught as a disciple.
So a Christian is someone who believes Jesus died for them on the cross for their sins and because of their faith they decide to follow him by having a personal relationship with him. They accomplish this by learning about him, spending time with him and trying to be more like him. They know they are not perfect but they try to be more like him. They follow the perfect one!
