Thursday; January 11

Are we Christians?  On one hand that may seem like a pretty simple question that can be readily answered with a “yes” or “no”, but since I ask the question, I get to define it a bit further.  To me, this query is based on one important piece of information – what does “Christian” mean?  Does it merely mean that I believe in the existence of  someone named Jesus who was called the Christ?  Is it a demographic designation that separates us out in categories like “atheist”, “Buddhist”, “Jewish”, “Muslim”, etc.?  Is it based upon where we worship on a particular day of the week?  Is it determined by the principles we choose to adopt?  Now all of a sudden the question becomes a bit more complex, doesn’t it?
Let me throw one more layer into this discussion – does the question have as much to do with how we act as it does with what we believe?  Sure, we can believe in the principles of Christianity, but is our faith enough to qualify us as a Christian?  When the New Testament writer James delineated those who were genuine disciples of Jesus he observed, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”, then, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”. (James 2:14,17)  In essence, we can’t merely acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, we must put the principles into practice in our spiritual and physical lives.
Now let’s go back to the beginning:  Are we Christians?  Interestingly, it doesn’t really matter how we answer that question; the true judgement will come when the Lord exerts His eternal opinion.
Think About It!

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