The Jesus Question

Such a beautiful morning. I love Florida. Not quite as much as South Carolina, but I love it here.

Something has been on my mind lately. It started with reading a book called A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. If you've never read it, read it. It's good, awesome, great, and more. Not the words Brian writes, but rather the toughts he proposes and what this generous orthodoxy might do to you, much less those around you.

He asks a question, which I now call "the Jesus question". Here it is... get ready.

Would Jesus be a Christian?

Bold. Scary. Anti-Christian? Powerful. Silence. Curiosity. Wonder.

When I first read this question, that is what came to mind, as if this is the first time you have read the question or thought about it, may come to you as well. It's an incredibly scary question.

The word "Christian" didn't come about in Jesus' time on earth, but rather is documented in the book of Acts as originating in Antioch so that the faithful would have something to call themselves. It's not a Jesus term or a God term, but rather a people term.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think that when these nice Antiochians decided to start using the word Christian, they had the best of intentions. Christian, according to my good friend Webster, is defined as "a follower of Christ" or "relating to Christ or His religion". Interesting. Following Christ or relating to Christ. Now let's go to Jesus. Webster calls Jesus "the founder of the Christian religion". Now, personally, I define Jesus in a much different way, but since I'm not in the mood to write an endless book right now, we'll stick to Webster's definition.

Ah hah! According to Webster, Jesus would have to be a Christian. He founded the religion, so therefore he would be one. Right?

Side track. For all of you good Methodists out there (and those of you who are not too), would John Wesley be a Methodist today? He founded it, right? Would he be satisfied with evangelism being the last on our list in a church where he made it first? Through this statement and to save on time, let's just assume from this point on that just because someone founded something doesn't mean that they would necessarily support its current activities.

Would Jesus be a Christian? What is a Christian? Don't give me the 'by the book' answer, because I already know that one all too well. What do we think of as a Christian? We call ourselves Christians, don't we? So what does that mean? According to Webster, it is following Christ's example and teachings. Now for some real questions...

Are we helping the poor? Are we feeding the hungry? Are we clothing the naked? Are we healing the sick? Do we have enough faith to believe that we can heal the sick? Are we really following Jesus when we call ourselves Christians?

Honestly, after thought, prayer, and about five minutes of realizing how stupid people have been in distorting a word over twenty centuries, I have firmly and confidently decided that, should Jesus be faced with the question, he not only would not call himself a Christian (he wasn't big with titles anyway), but he would like for us to be using the word 'Christian'.

Jesus is Jesus. You can call Jesus the Messiah, Lord, the king of kings, the alpha and omega, the lord of lords, but the truth is, no words or writings can replace the word Jesus; on the same level, no concept or phrase or word can replace following Jesus. Jesus didn't call us to be 'Christians', but rather to follow Him.

Think. Seriously, sit back, take a deep breath, and think about this.

We're so quick to say, "Yeah, I'm a Christian!" But, how many of us are so eager to say honestly that, "Oh yeah, I'm following Jesus!" There is a difference. It's hard to find, but it may just be the biggest road block ever built (by good intentioned people at that) from the people in today's church from finding Jesus.

Are you following Jesus, or are you satisfied with just calling yourself a Christian? I was part of that later boat for a long time, and just now am I truly finding the prior. It's been the greatest transformation in my life, and it is my prayer that it may be yours as well.

Seeking Jesus and trying as an imperfect person to follow Him,
chris

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