The last couple Catches have created some good discussion and many of you have pointed out that the real problem with who we claim to be and how we talk about our faith in the marketplace has to do with labels and semantics. In my lifetime, I’ve been a “Christian,” an “evangelical,” a “Jesus Freak,” a “believer” and a “follower of Christ.” Each one of these labels has been useful for a while until it developed bad or confusing connotations and I started to favor another label that wasn’t “tainted” yet with negative or inaccurate implications. It’s important to realize these issues spring from popular interpretations of these labels not what they refer to. They could all refer to something wholly true, but indicate something false based on how the term is interpreted by the media or the majority of the public at any given time. At best it’s just a label; at worst, it’s a stereotype.
In other words, we will always have this problem because we are dealing with words. Not that words and definitions are not important – they are – but the true definition of a Christian lies within you and me. Ultimately it is not a label that goes into the marketplace. It’s not a label that goes anywhere. Ultimately, it is YOU. YOU define “Christian,” “evangelical,” “Jesus Freak,” “believer,” “follower of Christ,” and anything else we have come up with or will come up with. It’s the best way to think about this. The only real definition of a Christian anyone can ever understand is YOU.
YOU walk into the world; YOU walk into the marketplace; YOU represent Christ in your neighborhood, your community; YOU are it. YOU are God’s message to the world, because you can’t just tell people about the gospel, you can only truly live the gospel. You don’t write it or speak it; you are it. As my wife likes to say: you will know a true Christian because acts of love are taking place, not just words.
And if there is a bad rap on any one of the labels the world uses for a Christian, YOU and only YOU can change that. If people meet YOU and have to redefine what they thought a Christian was, that is a good thing. That is the way it should be.
See how important you are?
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (italics mine) – 2 Corinthians 4:1-2
John Fischer The Catch 
“We proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love and peace”
Community of Christ
John, thanks for your insights, experiences and your unique ability to express them in ways that are understood. We are one on this small blue planet and are still learning the lessons of being community, wherever we find ourselves in this process of becoming complete, as God intended us to be.
Great post today! Thanks!
I agree that being a Christian/Evangelical/Jesus Freak/Follower of Christ are not definitions of a person, they are what lies inside that person. However, I am very confused about something. We have a close friend who calls himself an atheist. Yet he is one of the most caring people I know – always performing acts of love, not just talking about them. Where does this come from? I’d love to hear some insights on this.
I have a friend who describes herself as an agnostic. She also is kinder and more giving than most. I know others who boast of being Christians but treat others with contempt–and seem to believe that is is more blessed to receive than to give. I have no answers–but appreciate John’s reminders about how to deal with others. We will drive them away with sermonizing.
I have been trusting the care of my vehicles to the same auto mechanic for about 30 years. He makes no profession but has always treated me with complete honesty and fairness. his name just happens to be John.
One day I was thanking him for for his way of doing business.
I said, “John, you conduct your business and treat your customers just the way a Christian ought to”. He replied,
“I am a (#*//><#!) Christian". Maybe it's something you just had to be there and hear but it gave me a very good laugh.
I have enjoyed these posts as well as the comments that follow. Members of the Evangelism committee in our small town, call on all new residents. We give them a bag of microwave popcorn with a note that says, “We just popped by to invite you to worship with us,” a daily devotional, and a tract with times and places to worship at the five churches in town. If people are open to it, we schedule follow-up calls. One time we called on a young woman with two children who lived in an old Victorian house with a wrap around porch, a few houses down from our church. She enjoyed the call, and after some time, she began to join us in worship and to send the children to Sunday school. She told me that after our visit, she often sat on the porch and watched our members come to services. Then she paid attention to those same people in the grocery and other stores in town. She wanted to see how we treated others. When she was satisfied with what she saw, she began to attend. What a reminder! My pastor often comments that we may be the closest things to Jesus that others will ever see, and that while people will watch the pastor’s behavior, they watch members as well. Our words count for nothing unless our lives are witnesses to the value of being part of the body of Christ.
YOU said that well John! YOU and I are lucky guys (blessed) with wonderful wives that know what true love is. God is Love and the more we abide in Him the more of His love is evident in our life and is available to those around us if we are willing to let it flow to those in need of it. Blessings to you John.
I have tried, over the years, to try and put into words my relationship with Christ. It seems now that it is not as important what I say, but what others see in me that matters.
I don’t have to explain anything to anyone, because Christ knows my heart. That’s enough for me.
Words are not truth. Words are what we use to try to describe truth as we see it. But truth is bigger than words. It always has been and always will be. That’s why God is a poet and His voice in scripture is so often rendered in the poetic genre. That’s why Jesus used stories to explain the deepest truth. That’s why the Word became flesh…so we would know Truth. And that’s why it so often must become flesh in us for others to understand it. And when we see Truth, I mean really see it, we understand that our goodness and that of anyone else is like filthy rags compared to Goodness Himself. It may be more or less and even in the right direction but the image of God in us is so tainted, selfish, and duplicitous that we sit, like children playing in the mud who are impressed that one of us still has a clean spot. “Something’s coming, and everything counts. So guard your heart and listen to the wind.” – Listener
Just had a tiny revelation also, that might take the edge off and add some depth to the idea of being called different “names” as Christians. After reading your list of names, it occurred to me that God uses hundreds of words/names to “describe” aspects of Himself to us. It’s a way of how we relate to Him from a human standpoint. So, it really sort of makes sense that the way us humans try to describe and pin down Christianity might be similar. God relates to us all slightly differently and there is an aspect of God’s personality that connects and touches every single thing that can possibly happen to us. Maybe that’s another reason we find that different names for who we are work… it also shows different aspects of how we relate to God.
My reading this morning included the following:
Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
These verses rang true for me, especially since I live among people who consider higher education to be the “end-all.” (I live in China.) However, when it comes to the battle of word usage, I can’t help but think that they are all tools of Satan, designed to separate followers. He doesn’t care a bit about those who don’t believe . . . he puts all of his energy into splitting up those who do.
The power of the cross is but foolishness to those who can’t see . . .
Recently a coworker asked what kind of church did I attend, meaning what denomination. I replied that I attended where they believed you can’t do anything to earn your way to heaven. That it was a gift that Jesus paid for me.
It lead to a good discussion of works and grace. If I had just given her the label, she would have been content with that and missed what she really needed to hear. I used to tell people what denomination right off the top, but now I wait for them to ask a second time about that. The label would not have conveyed any more that whatever preconceptions she had.
Thanks again John for making your album available “Still Life”. (The Sabbath was made for man. Only Satan labors 24/7/365 because his time is short.)
The previous comment by David Reis was marvelous! I have come to say “I am a follower of Jesus Christ” but the way he told about WHO he worshipped and that it was all about God and not us was fabulous. I have become so disenchanted with denominations although I know they have their place. I am a member of a main line denomination but the most important thing about my branch of Christ’s family is that they stress ~ Loving God ~ Loving people ~ and ~ Making a difference ~ None of this has anything to do with working for Salvation ~ as has been said and is written in Holy Scripture, this is a “gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast” but as James stressed, the evidence of our Salvation is our good works and obedience to Jesus Christ! This is the bottom line! Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”
Thank you for the opportunity to speak my mind. Lord bless and keep you, make His face shine on you, be gracious to you, turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Love, Hugs, and Prayers!