Friday, 13 April 2012
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What Does it Mean to Be a Christian? (Part Two)
What does it mean to be a Christian? How does it differ from being a Disciple? You'd think the two would be easily separated.The term 'Christian,' for my purposes here and in future posts, refers to someone who has given their heart to God; someone who has accepted God's gift of forgiveness and secured a place for themselves in Heaven.
A 'Disciple,' as I use the term, is someone who gives their whole life to God; someone who enlists in service for God the way a man enlists in the military. Your life stops being your own, and you live for someone else.
Seems like something very different, right? But is it really?
At its most basic, to become a Christian is a relatively simple thing to do. Pray, acknowledge God's sovereignty and our sin, and ask for forgiveness, which God gladly and freely gives. It's easy, quick and costs you nothing. Doesn't seem much like the idea of discipleship, which costs you everything.
Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that the gift of salvation is free and not something we can earn; God gives it to us out of His infinite grace and deep love for us. Conceivably, we could accept God's invitation and walk away, secure in our 'retirement' without ever needing to think about it again. Paul touches on this concept in Romans 6:15. I recommend reading the whole chapter, where Paul tells us we are no longer under the law, which condemns sin, but under grace, which pardons sin. If you have the time, read chapter 5 along with 6. He also equates being a Christian with having died to sin and been made a slave to righteousness in verses 16-18. That's starting to sound a lot more like the type of discipleship I've been discussing, and a lot less like the modern Christian, who gives their soul to God and lives their life pretty much whatever way they want.
If nothing worse, the modern Christian pursues their own ideas of success, such as a good job, a sizable bank account, a nice home, a pretty wife or husband and a couple of kids. Not one of those things is bad on its own; it becomes wrong to pursue those things when God has another direction for us and we deny going in that direction because we want something more comfortable.
This is where Discipleship and Christianity link up. When you give your heart to God, you're also starting a personal relationship with Him. If nothing else, you are acknowledging and accepting His love for you, which starts you on the path to having love for Him in return. "We love Him, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19. Read verses 7-19 to get the whole idea. John is speaking about love here, but also about salvation. Pair this with John 3:16 and you begin to see that love and salvation are inseparable. Our salvation was provided because of God's love for us. We accept the offer of salvation because of our love for Him.
And that love does not stop working in us. It begins with salvation, but it matures into works, into giving ourselves over to God to allow Him to work in us. In a word, into discipleship. Not because we want to get something out of it, and not because we have an incorrect idea that we won't be saved if we don't work. We do it because we love God, and love makes us want to give of ourselves. Love is generous, love is not selfish; you know the routine. It's a response to love and out of love that we become disciple of God.
Discipleship is what becomes of Christianity when it matures. In modern Christianity as I see it, few people ever get to the point of discipleship; churches don't always nurture mature Christian growth, and the people in the church don't put in the effort necessary to get to it. They may see that something is missing, and for a lot of them, that 'missing something' becomes the cause of lukewarm Christianity, yet they don't explore what it is they're missing and often aren't getting the deep feeding from their leaders that they need.
I'm writing this series with the assumption that those reading it are Christians. I'm also going to assume that the people reading this are looking for something more. Maybe you're baffled by the feeling that you aren't as fulfilled as the Christians around you seem to be. Again, I don't pretend to have the answers, but I am in the same position, and maybe we can learn something together.
Do you think there is a difference between being a Christian and being a Disciple? Can you be a Christian without being a Disciple? If you feel like you aren't a Disciple, what can you do to grow in your faith?
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- From: DreamPet@xanga
- Name: James
- Location: Ohio, United States
- About Me: I am a young man without much to say. Ok, maybe that's a lie. I chose my name for a story I wrote called Killing Pet about a boy who has nightmares. I am living with a man I love, and am also a Christian. Is everyone a paradox, or is it just me?
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Comments (11)
Being a Christian means it's the follower of Christ, so you CAN'T really be a Christian without being a disciple.....i don't think you can separate these two terms....as long as you are a Christian then you would be the disciple of Christ
and now some people may be called separately for full time ministry, and some don't.....im not sure if you ever wonder, you want to do more for Christ, yet all you do now is to live a life that seems to be similar to others and it seems pointless....(for me i did think about that) however 1 Cor 10:31, it says whether you eat or drink....and eating and drinking are the MOST mundane thing for us to do and everyone would do it....yet Paul said we could still glorify God in THESE MATTERS!!
so as long as you strive to live a life to glorify God in whichever way, then it's already considered as, in my opinion, a disciple.......because everyone has different gifts, some are called to serve God on a full time basis, some serves as an evangelist.....some serve as part time person.....for example, in your work place, if you could give a good testimony, people could be drawn to Christ.....so.....yea...and one thing can start with is to ask yourself every day if you could find the chance to share the gospel with others......im still trying and sometimes i experienced it myself, and this helps the growth of faith!!
A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. As a result the disciple of Jesus Christ is open to the fullness of God's revelation and salvation.
It takes God to reveal God.
Christianity is the only religion given to man by God himself. All other religions are from man and thus limited and imperfect.
I appreciate your thoughts and would like to hear more of them.
What is a nominal Christian? Is this a lukewarm Christian?
Is it possible to be called a Christian and not take up the Cross?
Jesus said that if we didn't take up our cross, we couldn't be his disciple.
I am more concerned about what Jesus said, than what others say He said.
@littlecrazygal@xanga - Very good point! A true Christian and a disciple are one and the same, in my opinion. I use different terms because the modern idea of Christianity is not the same as what I see real Christianity should be; just like Matthew 7:21-23 (really, the whole chapter is relevant), there are many who call themselves Christians to whom God will say, "I never knew you." I also want to make a distinction between Christians who are ready to follow God on a different level and those who aren't ready, especially new Christians. I don't want to give someone the idea that not ready means not a Christian or not saved because, like you pointed out, even mundane acts like eating and drinking can be done to glorify God.
@THE_LORDS_FREEMAN@xanga - I don't think it's possible to be a Christian and not take up our cross. Jesus says plainly that anyone who wishes to follow Him must take up their cross.
I think, a lot of times, people are too complacent to stay in the immature phase of their Christian life; the time when they take in only the milk of the Word, the light, feel-good stuff, and not the meat, where God's Word challenges us, or where it costs us something. I think a lot of people are not given the opportunity to be challenged in their faith or don't take the opportunity when it comes. I'm hesitant to say these people are not 'true' Christians, but I do think our faith should take us further than that, and that's what I find myself hungering for. I'm not happy being a 'nominal' Christian anymore, and I'm ready to mature in my faith and 'put away childish things.' In other words, milk no longer satisfies.
Despite what many other Christians say, I see a clear distinction in the Gospels between disciples and "believers." A disciple is not merely a mature believer, although Christian growth may lead to discipleship. Jesus invited everyone to come to him and find rest. He offered forgiveness and grace to anyone. But he warned people against embarking on the path of real discipleship unless they had first considered the cost, and the cost is... everything. Jesus implies that not every believer can pay the price required.
No one can claim to be a "disciple" of Jesus unless they have abandoned all earthly ambitions in pursuit of God's kingdom. A disciple's life is built around attaining the mind of Christ and living life out of that perspective - total devotion to God. It involves the giving up of my right to myself. This is not typical Christianity. It is not the life of most believers. Those who adamantly insist that all Christians are to be disciples ought to examine their own lives in light of Luke 14:26-33. This is much more than Christians having different gifts. It is an extreme life abandoned to God's purposes.
Jesus never warned anyone against believing in him. But he did warn those who sought to become disciples... "You'd better think twice." (paraphrase).
I am reluctant to look at Christians as two different categories. Who denied Christ and then went out and wept bitterly? I see Christians as being on different levels and various degrees of maturity. You or I may follow close to the Master in some areas but be somewhat immature in other areas. I may seem mature in some respects but I mourn over the sin that lies within(and sometimes works it's way out:). I need a God who will not give up on me in spite of my selfishness and pride. Is not all Scripture profitable to all Christians, no matter our relationship to Christ? We might look on a fellow believer and see many good things, but only Jesus and that believer can see within.
Heaven going for all Story book believers is BS according to their preferred Story book!
ALL quotes prove the earth remains the destination of ALL Story book so called ' believers!'.
@sometimestheycomebackanyway@xanga -
Didn't Story book Paul ' reveal ' Story book god?
@littlecrazygal@xanga -
The next genuine Story book bible based believer outside of their preferred Story book Land to step forward and legitimately manifest the promises & requirements as detailed in their Story book for ANY such a believer/disciple will be the very first in man's History!
Any here care to step-up and be examined for legitimacy according to their own Story book?
I shan't hold my breath meanwhile!
A Christian follows Christ, and cares for those nobody else would care for. I battle this constantly in my own life, wanting to do more for God. For 18 years I've had 3 auto immune disorders, and, when I've pushed myself in church organizations to serve, I've wound up in bed for months. Always wanting to serve, to help, yet having to learn to live with what I have. I've come to the conclusion that one thing I can do for others, and I'm not throwing in grace here because I know the difference, is pray for them. We always have prayer lists at church, and I always know God hears my personal prayers, and for me this has become profound. So we don't have to necessarily be or do anything other than love our neighbors, and that's often a stretch. And we have also have the varying camps that believe in the rapture, pre, au, post, etc., and we have scripture that helps us understand that as well. I'm just saying follow Christ's role in his ministry as best as you can, for you can do no better than that. Not Paul. Christ.