I'm Glad That I'm A Christian

” … and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Acts 11:26

For a while I’ve been hearing people say things like, “I don’t like to use the term Christian anymore because it has so many negative connotations for people. As soon as they hear someone say the word their defenses go up and they quit listening." So now they just say, “Christ follower”, or “Jesus follower”, and I confess that for a while I did the same thing. I’ve decided not to do it anymore.

The Greek word used in scripture that was translated Christian, is Christianos, and it means literally to be a follower of Christ. When the term was first coined, it had its upside and its downside.

On the upside, it removed all doubt about your loyalty and commitment to Jesus. On the downside, it pretty much put a price on your head and a bullseye on your back. A person didn’t want to be identified as a Christian unless they were certain about a few key issues.

They had to be certain of their identification. In the mind of the ruling class and most of the public, they were choosing to identify themselves, to associate themselves with a man who was crucified for being accused of being what some, today, would call a “domestic terrorist” or a riot starter. By identifying with Him they were taking that reputation on themselves. In their own minds, however, they identified Jesus as the Messiah, God’s chosen savior, and were identifying themselves as His followers, even at the cost of their lives.

They also had to be certain of their dedication. The call to follow was not a call to the good life, or the easy path. It was a call to leave their comfort zones, their steady income, their soft bed, their self-reliance, and all of the other things they placed their trust in and follow a penniless carpenter’s son who claimed to be the king of the Jews and the Son of God.

They had to be certain of the need for and the reality of transformation. Jesus intended to transform them from fishermen to fishers of men, from tax collectors to forgivers of debts, from commoners to ambassadors of a king. There was no promise of a solid return of their investment in the call, but Jesus did specialize in changing people’s lives, and always for the better if they would let Him. And His followers let Him, because they were convinced they needed the life He offered .

And they were convinced He could and would bring about the restoration of the world from its current state back to the way it was before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. And by “world” I mean the whole earth and everything that lives on it and in it. That we might once again be called the children of God and earth might once again be the object of God's affection. As I look at the world and everything that is going on in it, I often wonder, "Don't people ever get tired? Do they enjoy the pain?" God's desire is to restore people to that place of peace.

Does all of this make me want to rethink my commitment? Absolutely! It makes me want to follow Him more boldly than ever!

It makes me once again want to unapologetically call myself a Christian, and if telling people that “triggers” them and makes them defensive and angry, then Praise God! That’s God’s problem and He doesn’t have any problems. I don’t want to be a backdoor kind of guy. I don’t want to leave any doubt about where I stand or whose I am. I’m glad that I’m a Christian.