What does it mean to be a Christian?

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Could you answer this question without giving multiple amendments.

Does your answer mainly consist of beliefs or doctrine? Or even things that as a Christian you can do or be a part of?

But is this all it means to be a Christian… Doctrine and “thou shall nots.”

On the other hand how many of you thought, “a personal relationship with Jesus” thats what it means to be a Christian. Right??? It sounds good. It sounds like something we hear in church often. However, Jesus in John 13:35 doesn’t say “by this all men will know you are my disciples, that you have a personal relationship with me.” He says, “by this all men will know you are my disciples, that you have Love for one anther.”

To be a follower of Jesus means you live out the love of Christ… You live a life that is “others-centered.”

At the core of being a Christian means you minister to the needs of the poor and oppressed. Yet, as I heard one pastor say, “John 3:16 says, ‘for God so loved the world‘…so why then does it only look like God loves the Church?” We often focus so much time meeting our own spiritual needs and the needs of those in the church we never reach outside to meet the needs and spread the love of Christ to others.

Rick McKinley said, “we’ve reduced ‘all the world’ and ‘all creation’ to just the folks who walk through the front door at church. And we’ve shrunk the Good News to a short list of words that will save them from Hell.”

There is more to being a Christian that doctrine, rules, and the “sinners Prayer.” In fact I would say thats being religious. Be a Christian in living out the Love of Christ, putting God first and then the needs of our neighbors, before we ever seek our desires and wants.

(video done to complete a project @ sagu.)