A Good Christian

I have been meaning to get this post written for a while now. But I haven't done it. Or blogged at all for that matter! Oh how life can kill a persons love of writing! 

I want to bring up this phrase, "good Christian."

Have you ever heard this label? I have heard this from people within the church (as in the body of Christians as a whole. Not just the building I attend. Although I have heard this label at my church too.) and within the secular culture. And the label brings the same expectations no matter if the person using the term is Christian or not. If you ask anyone what a good Christian is their answer would be something like...

A good Christian acts nice and smiles a lot and helps to take care of people.

I can't even begin to describe how much that goes against the Bible about what a Christian should be. And people in the church strive to be labeled a good Christian by these standards! WikiHow even has a page on how to be a good Christian. According to that site, there are 19 steps to becoming a good Christian.

Really?

The first step was "Act like a Christian no matter what."

Please tell me they were just kidding. Please.

You do realize anyone can act like a Christian and not really be a Christian, right?

 I am involved in community theater. I love to act!

And I am semi good at it, if I do say so myself! ;) haha!

But I can act like a lot of things that are not really me. And acting like any character has never made that character a part of me. So how is acting like a Christian making that "Christian" act a part of them? It isn't. It is an act. Why would a Christians number 1 goal be to act like a Christian?

Jesus sent his disciples to go out and make disciples! Not to go act like good people! Anyone can do that! He sent them to tell about Jesus and to build relationships with others and to cast out demons and pray and heal! He never said, "Hey guys. I think if you guys went out and acted like a bunch of stuck up, goody two shoes, theologians, people would want to follow me. Don't you think? Let's give this a shot!" I MEAN REALLY! And Jesus taught of faith, grace, and love! He taught about living to follow God's will for your life and to seek the least. And guess what! Jesus hung out with people that were not Christians. I'm not even kidding. Jesus hung out with the woman at the well (John 4), and even Matthew, one of his disciples was a tax collector! (Matthew 9) Tax collectors were known thieves! And so many others that the culture would not see as the type of people one should associate themselves with. But they too came to live by Gods leading and living in His faith, grace, and love!

(As a little side note, the Bible says God is Love. It says so in 1 John 4:8 just to name one location. This is not the only occurrence of this phrase. But the word that was used for love here means everlasting, never ending, love. God is never ending love. And this love is not like the English word we have for love. It implies so much more. It was used for a strong love that could never be broken no matter the circumstances. So not only is his love everlasting, it is strong. It wasn't just a never ending little crush like you had in kindergarten. It was a strong, powerful, passionate, never ending, everlasting, love. Wow!)

Basically I believe that the Bible sends us as Christians to follow what God has called for each individual person. My walk with God and the plans he has for me, are nothing like the ones he has for you. We are called to live the life God has called us individually to, and this is to bring glory to Him! Our God!

Now please don't think I'm saying that "oh everyone just do what God says and life will always be happy!" that would be this "Good Christian" label that I am trying to eliminate! Or at least change the definition of!

Because Jesus followed what God called him to do, it wasn't always so pleasant. Dying on the cross for sins He had never committed wasn't an easy task God had planned for him. He went through hard times and He dealt with hard stuff! I can't imagine he ever "acted" like those were easy things. He knew it was hard and He knew it was His calling. His time in the garden to pray before His death showed us that. (Luke 22) Sometimes we face massive trials in our lives. Now, in today's culture you probably will not be hung on a cross. But you might deal with tasks that seem more than you can handle, or difficult family, work, or school situations. Maybe sins that you don't know what to do with. Or maybe you have abuse or trauma in your past, or even in your life now. God didn't say it would be easy.

John Piper said, "The difference between Uncle Sam and Jesus Christ is that Uncle Sam won't enlist you in his service unless you are healthy and Jesus won't enlist you unless you are sick." (Thanks for this quote Stephanie!)

This isn't saying that God isn't going to be present in you life unless your have the flu. It is saying that God can work in even the worst brokenness in person, and He takes that and turns it into strengths and not just strengths that we can boast in but a strength that can only come from God! (Judges 7:2)

So truly the Biblical definition of a good Christian should be someone that is following what God has called them to and living out Jesus and bringing glory to God. But that is such a personal thing between one person and God that you can't judge or label someone else with "good Christian."