February 2008

Las Vegas Outreach Team Newsletter

Christian or Disciple?

                Acts 11:26b

One thing that I have learned, over the past three years, is that the true definition for Christian has been altered and watered down.  As I talk to many people on the streets of Las Vegas, I hear many definitions for what a Christian is supposed to be.  The most common definition is someone who believes in Jesus Christ.  Many people claim a belief in Jesus Christ but their life does not reflect the new birth of salvation.  There is possibly a vast majority of people that claim to be Christians, but  are pretenders to the name.  Unfortunately it is because of the watered down name of Christianity, that non-religious people mock those who claim to be Christian.

If we are a Christian nation like evangelicals like to tell us loudly, then why do we have so many problems?  Is it because we cannot reconcile those small differences in the Bible and the studying of the Holy Book while following Christianity,….Or is it that we pay lip service to our religious beliefs and then go back to our human instincts and do what is in the best interest of ourselves?                                                          Lake Minnetonka Liberty

I recently realized that when Christ spoke to those who followed him, He did not call them to be a Christians, but instead He called them to be His disciple.  In America the term Christian most often means a person who has asked Jesus Christ into their heart through a prayer.  But the problem with this definition of Christianity is that it often points to a completion or arrival.  Christ never meant for us to arrive in our salvation this side of eternity.  An individual who has based their life on a simple prayer of asking Christ into their life, and yet is not convicted to have Christ at the center of their life, priorities, and goals, has used the prayer as lip service.  Instead a born again believer has a heart of repentance and then lives each day for the Lord. 

The Bible only mentions the term “Christian” three times; Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and I Peter 4:16.  The two times Christian is mentioned in Acts, it is a term that the Gentiles used for the followers of Christ, but it’s used to be derogatory.  In I Peter, the term of Christian is used as Peter talks to the church.  Peter is telling the faithful about the persecution and martyrdom that may happen as they live their life as a Christian. 

The biggest frustration that I have is that the term Christian has been adopted by so many other religions.  Because there are so many people who call themselves a Christian, it’s unclear if a Christian is someone who’s prayed the sinner’s prayer, a Catholic, a Mormon, a Jehovah Witness, or is it a repentant born again believer?  As a disciple of Christ there is a clearer picture of denial, obedience, and direction.  Since the name “Christian” has been drastically changed in America, but the term used by Christ for his followers was “disciple”, I plan to call myself a disciple of Christ.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that it is a bad thing to be known as a Christian.  But the term Christian could mean so many different things that the person you speak with still does not know who you are.  For the remainder of the article I want to clearly outline the marks of a disciple from the words of Christ.

This same Greek word was also used by Christ, when He told Peter that he would be denied three times before the rooster crowed, while Peter refused to believe Christ.  Within twelve hours Peter denies Jesus three times and is emotionally destroyed because he feels he no longer deserves to be a disciple.  Then prior to Christ’s ascension we see Peter get reinstated.  Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him.  Each question is followed by a command of devotion to the brethren (Feed my Lambs…Tend my sheep).  Jesus is clearly defining for Peter that to love Christ you must be devoted to the brethren, and to be devoted to the brethren you must deny yourself. 

The second section is to take up your cross daily.  The cross was the punishment given to the worst criminals by the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans.  It was a form of justice that these governments felt necessary to evoke on the most evil criminals.  The cross was also the punishment that Christ received for the totality of the sins of the saints.  Each saint should have received this punishment for their sins, but Christ chose to take the punishment instead.  Taking up our cross daily, describes the process of fighting against our sin each and every day.  If we are born again, there is a desire to not sin and instead to fight against our flesh that desires to sin.  To overcome our flesh we must be in battle to mortify and bring to extinction the selfish deeds of the body (Romans 8:13).  And the goal is not to do this occasionally but each and every day. 

The final call is to follow Christ.  To follow after Christ means that you attach yourself in identification with Christ, you conform to the example of Christ, and you live for Christ even if it is to death.  The purpose of life is to be identified with Christ through your example of being like Him.  It is true that our life should be a testimony of Christ but our testimony is not going to be by our walk alone.  I know a particular friend who is a football fanatic.  I know this because all he talks about is football.  I know another friend who is a fitness fanatic.  I know this because she is always working out, eating right, and talking about fitness.  So why is it that so many Christians feel that it is enough to identify ourselves through attending church, reading the word, and praying in private, but never to speak publicly about their identification with Christ?