Christian Christians

Many at our church tout our Annual Thanksgiving Service on the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving as their “favorite service of the year.” We have some traditions in that service that we carry forward year after year. One of them is our I-Thank-The-Lord testimony service. It is a testimony service with some simple ground rules: When you testify, you begin your testimony with “I thank the Lord for…” or “I thank the Lord because…” and then you complete the sentence. “Sentence” is the second ground rule; your testimony can be only one sentence long. No run-on sentences. In order that all can hear each’s testimony—and so those listening via live stream can hear as well, we have aisle runners: We have two men with cordless mics that roam the aisles in their assigned section of the sanctuary to get a microphone to any who raises his/her hand desiring to testify. People give thanks to God for a variety of things. Although only one sentence long, some of these testimonies have become rooted in our collective church family memory for their remarkableness. One sure to be mentioned every year comes from a testimony over twenty years ago. Our Christian school choir was singing that night and was seated in the choir loft during our I-Thank-The-Lord testimonies. One of our young lady students stood, took the mic, and said, “I thank God for a Christian pastor.” Her gratitude was visible and sincere. I was warmed by the comment since I was the one to whom she was referencing. Yet, folks laughed that night. They still laugh when it is retold. Not at her. At the remark. How it sounded. The laughter was at what seemed an oxymoron—I would not be the pastor of our church if I were not a Christian. “Pastor” didn’t need the qualifier “Christian.” To say “Christian pastor” is like saying round circle or red Santa suit or cold snow. It is a redundancy. What was then humorous redundancy is now necessarily sad reality. “Pastor” does need the qualifier “Christian.” There is the phenomenon in our day of pastors of atheists—atheist pastors. There are also accounts today of pastors of churches who are secret, closet atheists. There are also charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing. There is another related reality: There are those who call themselves Christians who really are not Christians. Not in a Biblical sense. Not in a practical sense. Not in a real sense. There is nothing in their attitude, values, conversations, demeanor, pursuits, or lifestyle that would distinguish them from the world around them. Permeated with, stewed in, pickled by the culture in which they immerse themselves, Christians have become something other than Christian. As petrified wood still retains “wood” in its name but in nature is no longer wood, many Christians still retain the name “Christian” but in nature are anything but. We could endlessly parse and debate what makes one truly a Christian, but let’s just answer with a conglomerate of Jesus, Paul, and John. A Christian is one who, trusting in Jesus for salvation of his soul, is a born-again, not-of-this-world, not-loving-this world new creation. Thus, a Christian is one with a different nature than the unredeemed. Of course, I could have just opted for a literal definition. A Christian is a follower of Christ; a Christian is one who adheres to the teaching and ways of Christ. Thus, he thinks and does as Christ would. Interestingly, NT Christians never called themselves Christians. Neither did the Jews from which they branched. It was the heathen and the pagan that called these followers of Jesus Christian. The world recognized the distinguishing difference. Sadly, many Christians no longer live up to their name. Truth is, they are non-Christian Christians. So, our young testifier was more prescient than she knew. ‘Pastor” does need a qualifier. And so does Christian. In such a world I thank the Lord for Christian Christians. Religion wise, I am a Christian pastor. Reality wise, I truly want to be a Christian Christian.

Christian Christians

Contact

Follow Us