Ask five different people what it means to be Christian and you will probably get six different answers. In fact, within Judaism followers of Jesus are referred to as Nazarenes, because they do not accept Jesus’ claim of being the “Christ.” In the Arab world, the term “Christian” usually refers to a person from western culture, whether or not that person is a follower of Jesus, Buddah, or even secular humanism.
Among different groups that would classify themselves as Christian, there is little agreement about what makes one a Christian. For some, it is simply a cultural term that applies to those who can turn to no other cultural religion. For some, it is applied to those who have been baptized or “Christened” in a church. For some, it is restricted to those who claim to have made a conscious decision to pattern their lives after the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. Still for others, it refers to those who have done all of the above and vote Republican and support the Moral Majority.
The first use of the term “Christian” is recorded in a book of the Bible called The Acts of the Apostles. That mention, in Acts 11:26 simply says, “At Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians.” The only other two times the word is used in the Bible, it carries negative connotations. It was used by an ancient ruler in a patronizing manner in Acts 26:28 and was equated with suffering in I Pet. 4:16.
The earliest followers of Jesus did not refer to themselves or each other as “Christians,” but rather, as followers of “the Way” or simply as disciples (Acts 9:2, 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22). They were not interested in starting a new religion. They simply believed Jesus when He stated, “I am the Way…” (John 14:6) and desired to follow Him. This makes it terribly difficult to come up with a Scriptural definition of a Christian.
Probably the closest we can come is the many references to followers of Jesus claiming to be “in Christ.” Everything in the New Testament hinges on whether a person is in Christ or apart from Christ. On the one hand, we read that being “Separated from Christ” results in “having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But on the other, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1) and “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation” (II Cor. 5:17).
The aim at Missio Dei Church is not to define people with titles as such, because labeling tends to trick us into thinking that we have understood what we have labeled. We are interested in encouraging people through faith to be found in Christ, to become a disciple, a faithful follower of the ways of Jesus Christ, regardless of cultural background, religious practice or creedal confession. For us, a Christian is a person who realizes that apart from Jesus, we have no hope and no God in the world. It is a person that receives as punishment for his failed attempts to rule himself and his world, the substitution of Jesus abandonment by God on the cross. His life is motivated, not by fear, but by gratitude and love and a desire to revere and praise King Jesus.
