Why Are You a Christian?

Never before has it been so imperative that we, as Christians, be able to answer the question, “Why are you a Christian?” Keep reading to learn why asking (and answering) this question is so important and to get started on owning your faith today.

Why is Answering the Question “Why Are You a Christian?” So Important?

Answering this question is important for two reasons. First, our own faith is solidified and less easily shaken by the lies of the enemy. Second, if we don’t know the facts surrounding our faith, chances are slim that we will ever be able to effectively share the Good News of Jesus with others, which is one of the reasons God put us here on the earth.

Why Am I a Christian?

I was raised going to church. I gave my life to Jesus twice; I don’t really remember the first time, but I remember the second. 12-year-old me sitting on my swingset praying the salvation prayer again, just in case the first time somehow hadn’t “worked.”

But, to be honest, for most of my life, I was just going through the motions. I knew going to church and reading my Bible were things I was supposed to do, so I did them regularly, but I didn’t have a real foundation upon which to build my faith, and I didn’t really have relationships with God or Jesus.

I didn’t know why I believed what I did; I just believed it because everyone I knew believed it, and I had been told my whole life it was good to be a Christian.

Recently I realized that I can’t answer the question “Why am I a Christian?” outside of, “I just know it’s true,” and, “I’ve felt the presence of the Holy Spirit,” and, “God has done wonderful things in my life.” These aren’t bad statements. But deep down I knew how shallow it sounded. And, to be honest, I’ve had some doubts here and there. As a result of my shallow reasoning, I didn’t really talk about my faith, especially with people outside of my Christian circles.

Borrowed Faith

My faith was a borrowed faith.

When I think about borrowed faith, a certain behavior of my kids comes to mind. Because they don’t have to pay for or work for most of their belongings, they don’t usually take very good care of their stuff. They leave it lying around and they let it get damaged or broken or lost; they generally don’t take personal responsibility for it.

Like my kids with their toys, I haven’t been taking personal responsibility for my faith. I have been borrowing it from my parents and pastors and friends, choosing to blindly believe what they told me to believe. By doing so, I was, in essence, risking letting it get damaged or broken by the enemy’s lies.

It takes owning something to truly want to nurture it and see it flourish.

And the same is true of our faith. It won’t grow or become substantial until we own it. Borrowed faith lacks conviction and solid reasoning.

Often lacking action, borrowed faith is the faith of the person who builds their house on the sand (Matt. 7:24-27). It can be easily damaged (or even destroyed) when it comes into contact with other worldviews. Click To Tweet

But Jesus gave all of His followers a very specific action – to share the Gospel and win people to Him (Matthew 28:19). How can we do that if our faith is so shaky that we can’t even talk about Him?

This realization compelled me to begin a journey towards owning my faith. And, if you are among the millions of Christians like me, who can’t articulate why they believe what they believe and, therefore, effectively share their faith with others, I challenge you to join me. {Related: What Does the Bible Say About Faith?}

Heart, Soul, and Mind

In Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

The answers I had for the question, “Why are you Christian?” that I listed before (and others like it), aren’t bad statements. They’re heart and soul statements, and they’re valid. They might get agreeable nods from other Christians, but they don’t hold much water with skeptics or atheists or people of other religions or worldviews. This is because they’re highly subjective (based on personal beliefs, feelings, or preferences).

To solidify our own faith and to confidently share our faith with those outside of Christianity, we often need more solid evidence. We need mind statements. These types of statements are objective (generally considered true for all people at all times and in all situations). And these are the things we need to explore more in-depth so that we can courageously and confidently “give an answer” when asked about our faith.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

1 Peter 3:15

Own Your Faith

Why Are You a Christian? Faith Foundations

According to Hillary Morgan-Ferrer of Mama Bear Apologetics, there are 5 basic precepts that must be accepted to be open to believing the Gospel (hear more about this at mamabearapologetics.com, podcast episode 5).

• Truth exists
• God exists
• Sin exists
• I’m not perfect
• Jesus existed

Truth Exists

If a person doesn’t believe that truth can be known, he or she cannot accept the truth of the Gospel. Today, people have adopted a watered-down definition of the word “truth.” It has become a very subjective thing. You may hear people say things like, “Well, that’s your truth, but my truth is…”

But this is false thinking. There are, without a doubt, things in this world that are true and there are things that are not true. For everybody. People who don’t believe this are not capable of accepting the Truth of the Gospel. They are being held captive by the false thinking of the world.

God Exists

Obviously, a person can’t believe in God’s Son, Jesus, the main idea of the Gospel, if he doesn’t believe in God.

Sin Exists

People today would rather believe that they are perfect just the way they are and that nobody can tell them they’re wrong. It makes them feel better about themselves and their shortcomings and makes life “more palatable” to believe that “ugly” things like sin and blood atonement are myths.

But the fact of the matter is that evil is all around us. It doesn’t take a genius to see it, even in one’s own life.

I’m Not Perfect

This one goes hand in hand with the last one. Because sin exists, nobody is perfect.

But if a person believes she is perfect the way she is, she has no need of Jesus, her Savior. In her mind, she doesn’t have any sins that need forgiving.

Jesus Existed

There are actually people in the world who have never heard of Jesus. But then there are people who have heard of Jesus but believe for various reasons that He either a) never existed or b) wasn’t who Christians believe He was.

But, again, the Gospel is centered on Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection. If someone doesn’t believe that He even existed, the whole Gospel falls apart before their eyes.

If someone believes that He existed, it can be argued that He died and rose again to give us eternal life.

If you accept these 5 precepts, great! You’re ready to move on to understanding and believing the basics of the Christian faith. If not, I encourage you to explore these things deeper.

Why Are You a Christian? Christianity Basics

The main reasons people doubt the Christian religion fall into a few categories. Exploring these areas and discovering facts that support the Christian worldview are imperative undertakings in order to build a solid intellectual faith and be able to answer the question, “Why are you a Christian?” They are…

• Is God real? Did He actually create the world and everything in it?
• Is the Bible true?
• Jesus
  • Did Jesus really live?
  • Did Jesus really die?
  • Did Jesus really come back to life?

These are the things I will start with in my own faith journey. I’m sharing them with you in faith. God did, after all, tell me to do this blog and is leading me on the daily. Also, from what I’ve seen so far, I believe that what I find will support that Christianity is true and give me solid ground to stand on when sharing my faith with my readers (you!) and others.

I challenge you today to join me in solidifying my faith. Don’t accept a borrowed faith any longer. Your very salvation and that of the people around you could very well depend on you owning your faith.

I know it can be scary to start on a journey like this. You can’t see where the road will lead you or what bumps you might encounter along the way. And sometimes asking questions can feel like heresy; indeed some churches speak out against asking questions, telling people that their faith is weak if they ask questions. But asking questions, especially questions surrounding a topic as important as why you are a Christian, is a good thing! And finding good answers to those questions is an even better thing.

It’s OK to Ask Questions

Here’s proof:

In Matthew 16:13. Jesus says to His disciples, “Who do people say I am?” Jesus encourages us to think about who He is and what other people think about Him.

Luke “investigated everything from the beginning (Luke 1:3).” Jesus knew that Luke was analytical when He chose him to follow Him.

In Matthew11:1-6 John the Baptist, the very man chosen to pave the way for Jesus, had doubts! But Jesus said in Luke 7:28, “There is no one greater than John.” This tells us that Jesus doesn’t mind when we have doubts.

Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12 to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” This means that we ought to “actively pursue spiritual maturity (AMP)” and “use serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ (AMP).” Remaining clueless about why we believe what we believe is choosing to remain a spiritual infant. And not having hard evidence to back up our faith could seriously discredit the name of Christ.

And then in Acts, the Bereans were called “noble and open-minded” for thinking critically about what they had heard about Jesus.

So, there you have it…questioning and searching are okay by Jesus, so it should be okay by us, too! As long as we’re genuinely seeking answers, God will faithfully lead us to them.

So, will you join me? Will you begin the process of owning your faith? I hope you will! I will be right there with you!

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Catch ‘ya later!

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