My post yesterday talked about the age of the term, "Christian" and how some have started to call themselves "Christ-Followers", finding that Christ-Follower has less baggage, and may be somewhat more descriptive. I want to clarify why I have decided to continue calling myself a Christian. As I noted, Christian is a very old term.
Dereck Webb sings in his song, "A King and a Kingdom,"
There are two great lies that I've heard:
"The day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die"
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him.
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with being a republican. I am however saying that Jesus was not interested in political power. I am saying that Jesus said that his kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36) I note that over the past thirty or so years, the American church has been co-opted by the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and a host of others. We have been convinced that our role as Christians is to vote a certain way, and that our faith demands that we follow a certain political outlook. This has led to the detriment of the church's reputation and effectiveness. This has also enabled the fracturing of American politics.
I am a Christian. Though I respect and honor those who, for perfectly logical reasons have chosen to find a new, less encumbered label for their faith, I will maintain that I am a Christian. I do so because I will not give up the word Christian to those who want to use God's Church for their own gain, rather than for God's glory. They are charlatans, and cannot have my good name.
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Well said, Geoff. I made this decision myself not so long ago, when I realized my pastor was more concerned with Jesus than what to call himself so that other people wouldn't think the wrong thing. So, like him, I'll stick with Christian.
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