Christian or something less

When I think about the label, Christian, it makes me nervous. The term was first used in the city of Antioch (Acts 11:26) and it literally means to be like Christ or little Christs. It wasn't first used as a term of honor, but of derision, such as, "they think they are just little christs" or "they act like they are little christs." It stuck because that was the goal, to be as close to Christ as we could get. The problem is most of our lives on this earth don't look fully like Christ's, so how can we take on the label, Christian, fully and with honor.

Paul said it when he described himself, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?" (Romans 7:24, NLT) He understood that although he wanted his life to be defined by Christ, to mimic Christ, it didn't always. We work at it, we try, but sometimes we fail. We are not fully like Christ.

That's why I like to think of myself not as a Christian, but as becoming one. I am becoming more like Christ all the time, or at least working toward that goal. Maybe I don't make huge strides every day, or even every week, but that is my goal and I am working on it. I want to become like Christ. I want to be defined by what that really means, not just because I made a profession of faith or because I am a pastor, but because my life looked like Jesus' life.

But what happens when we fail? Fortunately, we are not judged every day and we are not defined by only one day of our lives, rather by all of them. We are not a Christian one day and a non-Christian on the next because of our actions, our salvation is not that tenuous. We are defined by the journey, the journey to become a Christian. "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." (Romans 7:25-8:1, NLT)

Am I a Christian? Definitely not in the best sense of the term. I am trying to become a Christian but not because of my actions yet. But because of the grace of Christ and because I am defined by him, I guess you could call me that.

Peace ><>
PC