A facebook friend of mine posted a link to this article and inspired a debate about whether President Obama is a Christian or not. I don't want to get into politics. Maybe I should be more interested, but most of it just aggravates me. But, it did bring up the question what the definition of a Christian is.
I think when looking at this, we can see just how relative language can be. I don't know where I heard it, but I love the quote: "Words don't have meanings, meanings have words." Language is just a way of labeling the thoughts and ideas in our head. It's just one way of communicating unspoken meanings. And language changes. Words take on different meanings depending on context - who is speaking, how it was said, the time, the place, and so much more. "Christian" is no exception.
Everyone seems to have a different idea about what a Christian is. Someone who believes in God. Someone who believes Jesus is the Son of God. Someone who goes to church. Someone who wants to be like Jesus. And all of these different "Christians" are going to act differently. Someone who believes in God doesn't necessarily go to church, and someone who goes to church doesn't necessarily live like Jesus. When we think about it, Jesus' life is one rarely mimicked by people today: traveling around and forsaking his family, wealth, and comfort to preach about the kingdom of God, reach out to the poor, and eventually die a gruesome death.
The word "Christian" appears in the bible three times:
Acts 11:26: "and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."
Acts 26:28: "And Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."
1 Peter 4:16: "but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God."
The Greek word used here is Christianos. (here is the Blue Letter Bible page for it.) Literally, it means a "Christ follower." So, if we were going to use the word Christian in that sense, it would be someone who followed Jesus Christ of Nazareth and his teachings. If only it were that easy, right? If every person who said they were a Christian read Jesus' teachings everyday and made consistent actions to follow them, what would happen to this world? It would be a different world, that's for sure.
But, honestly, I think Jesus' words can seem empty without their context. Again, language changes, and what Jesus said in Hebrew or Aramaic that was written down in Greek is going to sound a lot different a couple thousand years later in English.
For instance, in Matthew 6:22 Jesus says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" After some study (here, here and here), we find out the reference to a good eye versus bad eye refers to generosity versus stinginess.
You have to understand Jesus' foundation, as well. You would not believe how many times Jesus quotes the Tanakh (the Old Testament) or the Talmud (a collection of writings and saying by Jewish rabbis). Here is a list of similar phrases, and that's just from Matthew 5-7. To understand Jesus, I think we need to study the Tanakh just as much as we may study Jesus' teachings. After all, God and Jesus are the same person, right? The same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The Talmud can also offer a wealth of wisdom, and it can tell us about some of the leading teachers and ideas in Jesus' time.
I could go on about this. I love the English language, but words have power. Words are loaded, and everyone looks at them with a different point of view. That's why I don't call myself Jewish, and I rarely call myself Christian. I prefer "believer" or sometimes even "God-fearer." It'll always take explanation, of course. These labels are never a sure sign that someone will hold all the same views as you (but if we al had the same views, then life would be too easy). Language is too fluid. I think someone's fruit will speak for itself. But then you get into defining what a Christian's fruit is. . .and then I would say Galatians 5:22-23. . .and someone would ask, "Then why do Christians consider homosexuality a sin?" And on and on it goes! I love it. Some call it midrash.
