What is a Christian…Really?

About a year and a half ago, I found myself in a miserable state. I had a husband and 4 kids ranging in age from 3 to 15, and I helped run 2 family businesses, plus there were church commitments and extended family and friends to keep up with. Needless to say, I was busy, and I was exhausted, but for what? I felt my life was lacking purpose and joy, but I wasn’t sure how to change that.

During a moment of frustrated prayer, God told me that the answer was to earnestly seek His will for my life. I decided then and there that I no longer wanted to be a lukewarm Christian. I knew from Revelation 3:15-16 that God detests lukewarm believers, so I decided to start being intentional about seeking God’s will and carrying it out on a daily basis (and I can honestly say that it has been so worth it).

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV)

I started with a prayer that sounded something like this,

Then I started to wonder, “What really is a true Christian? What does it look like to earnestly seek and follow the Lord?” After all, I’d called myself a Christian for years and years, but I’d never really done anything different than what I would have otherwise done. And I’ve always been surrounded by people who call themselves “Christians” but don’t seem to living or loving like Jesus did.

Keep reading if you, like me, have ever wondered what an earnest Christian looks like!

Define “Christian“

Merriam-Webster defines the word “Christian” as “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

Ok, that makes sense.

But before we move away from basic definitions, let’s go to the source of all truth, God’s word, to see what it says. The word “Christian” is used in the Bible 3 times; all 3 times are in the New Testament. This means that we want to look at the Greek word that was originally used by the authors.

Blueletterbible.com says that the word “Christian” comes from the Greek word “Χριστιανός (Christianos),” which means “follower of Christ.”

Again, makes sense, but this definition is still pretty vague, so let’s dig a little deeper.

What Does “Christian” Mean?

Unfortunately, these days, the term “Christian” is watered down and weak, partly thanks to conflicting worldviews, but more so because many Christians are failing to grow in their faith and continuing to live like spiritual babies instead of working with God to become spiritually mature (which is a whole other blog post). As a result, many self-proclaimed Christians are living out a watered-down and weak faith.

This is a problem.

It’s a problem because, according to Hebrews 5:13, a spiritual baby does not know the difference between right and wrong. The advancement of the Kingdom of God requires spiritually mature believers who can teach others and edify the body of Christ in other ways.

It’s a problem because people, including Christians, are being attacked day in and day out by Satan and his evil forces. And even though we know how the battle ends (the victory will be the Lord’s!), Satan will take more people with him to Hell if we (followers of Christ) don’t share with people the truth and love of God!

Plus, as previously mentioned, God despises believers who are “neither cold nor hot.”

Now that we’ve identified the problem, let’s look closer at what “Christian” means in the Bible.

We’ll start by looking at what had been going on the first time people started calling the disciples “Christians” in Acts 11?

• The persecution that began after the death of Stephen (Acts 6-7) had spread the followers of Christ out. These followers of Christ took the message of Jesus with them, not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles.
• The power of the Lord was with them (Acts 11:21).
• Many, many people came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior (Acts 11:21, Acts 11:22).
• The body of Christ was strengthened by Barnabas and Saul, who “taught great numbers of people (Acts 11:26).”
• These early Christians shared what they had (in fact, they gave as much as they could) to help their brothers and sisters.

So the first people given the title of “Christian” were so on fire for Jesus, that even after one of their own was martyred, they spread the message of Jesus’ salvation far and wide. As a result of the power of God being with them and their fearless boldness to preach the Gospel in the face of persecution, tons of people came to Christ. Also worth noting, the people of the early church were hungry for teaching about Jesus.

Now let’s look at Acts 26. After Agrippa tells Paul that he won’t be persuaded so easily, Paul claims to be a Christian (Acts 26:29). Paul was one of the most effective and influential people in the early church. After his miraculous conversion from Christian hater to Christian, he showed us what it means to truly follow Jesus. Many examples of Paul walking the true Christian walk can be seen in the book of Acts; here are a few that are worthy of special attention:

• Paul was led and filled by the Holy Spirit, going where He led and performing miracles in His power.
• Paul traveled far and wide spreading the Gospel, relying on the provision of God to sustain him.
• Paul was bold in speaking about Jesus despite the hatred many felt towards him for his message.
• Paul was humble.
• Paul was fearless and persistent; he continued to preach the Gospel even after being stoned to the point his attackers thought he was dead.
• Paul risked his life for Jesus.

Finally, in 1 Peter 4:16, we are reminded that being called a “Christian” is the same as being called by the name of Jesus, and that this is a privilege. In the verses preceding this one, we see that being a Christian means partnering with Christ in His suffering. We will be insulted, persecuted, and beaten down, but if it is in His name, we ought to bear it gladly. The good news for Christians in 1 Peter 4?

By becoming partners with Jesus in His suffering, we also earn the right to partner with Him in His glory when He returns! Share on X

So What Does it Mean to Be a Christian Today?

Being a Christian today shouldn’t be any different than it was back in the days of the early church. Anyone who is a Christian today should, practically speaking, live like the Christians did back then. Before we bring this around full circle, let’s look at a few things that will be apparent in the life of a true follower of Christ.

What Defines a Christian?

A true follower of Jesus will live a life marked by the following…

Love

Our love for God and His love for us drives us to want to do what pleases God. If we can work on understanding and acting on God’s love for people, while also increasing our love for Him by pursuing a relationship with Him, everything else will fall into place. Love for Him and others will flow naturally from knowing Him, trusting Him, and seeing His faithfulness unfold in our lives as we seek and obey Him.

“Jesus replied, ‘”You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Matthew 22:37-39 (NLT)

Faith

According to Hebrews 11:1, “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” When we trust in the Lord, we trust that He will bring to fruition all we hope for (as long as we are seeking His will in everything). This is why a true Christian can do things that seem hard or scary to non-believers or lukewarm Christians with confidence that God will work everything out.

Later in this chapter, we see that it is impossible to please God without faith (v. 6). Faith is a natural byproduct of a desire to please God. When we want to please Him, we choose to believe that He will come through for us according to His perfect plan and timing.

Repentance

Repentance is admitting your sin, asking forgiveness from God, and then turning away from it with a conscious effort to not continue in it. A repentant heart is another natural byproduct of a desire to do what pleases God. When we sin, we feel conviction through the Holy Spirit and want to do better. Then we accept the gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus and move forward with choices that honor God.

“‘now [God] commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him.'”

Acts 17:30b (NLT)

Sanctification

The process of sanctification is the process by which Christians who are earnestly seeking the Lord are made more like Jesus, holy like Him. Our lives should look more and more like Jesus’ life the longer we are in relationship with Him. This is due to the aforementioned natural byproducts of a building a relationship with Him.

“‘I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their wyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'”

Acts 26:17-18 (NLT)

How to be a Christian Today – Tying it All Together

To be a true Christian today can be difficult. Society is becoming more and more indifferent, even hostile, to those with a biblical worldview. But it isn’t impossible!

Pursuing an intimate relationship with Jesus is all it takes to give Christians the strength, courage, and boldness to live life for Him. Seeking the Lord will lead to a desire to please Him by seeking and carrying out His will, which is accomplished through a cycle of love, faith, repentance, and sanctification.

When Christians focus on truly seeking and following Jesus, they find themselves in the same powerful, peaceful, and joyful place the early believers were in. This results in the ability of Christians to boldly proclaim the message of salvation through Jesus and to do whatever is necessary to edify the body of Christ, as Paul and the early believers did. And it gives them a desire to learn about and know God more intimately.

The power of God is with earnest Christians because He knows they will seek and obey Him even when it’s difficult or strange or scary.

And, like in the early days of the church, this all adds to the strength and numbers of God’s family, which means more people in Heaven and fewer in Hell… Take that, Satan! It also means less hurt and more joy for people while on earth, and who doesn’t want that for themselves and those they love?

Many people who have given their lives to Christ think that's the end of the journey, when it's really only the beginning. While accepting the gift of salvation from Jesus is an amazing thing, there is so much more that He wants to… Share on X

If you’ve been living the life of a lukewarm Christian, I encourage you today to run back to Jesus and accept His offer of relationship and all the amazing goodness that overflows from a heart connected to Him! It may not always be easy, but it will always be worth it!

If you have a testimony about how you’ve seen this all play out in your life, please share it by emailing me at [email protected]! Testimony is so important to building up the body of Christ, and I’d love to facilitate the sharing of yours!

And, finally, if you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian, meaning you’ve never given your life to Christ, check out this post to get the details on what salvation’s all about. If you already know you want to give your life to Christ, but you don’t know how to, skip right to this post on how to get saved!

Catch ya’ later,

Follow Catching Courage!

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