I do not think I deserve to be called a Christian. Most of my believing friends would probably disagree with that statement, but\u00a0I think it is possible that some of my\u00a0friends\u00a0who do not believe in Jesus\u00a0for eternal life would probably agree with me. To some of my unbelieving friends, I\u00a0probably do not fit their\u00a0idea of how a follower of Jesus should live, talk, and act.<\/p>\n
And guess whose opinion is more important?<\/p>\n
In this matter (as in many others), the opinion of those who do not believe in Jesus for eternal life trumps the opinion of those who do. So, I guess I\u00a0cannot call myself a Christian.<\/p>\n
And as I was thinking about this recently, I realized that this is exactly the point!<\/p>\n
The\u00a0first group of people who were called “Christians”\u00a0did not claim the title for\u00a0themselves. Instead, it was a title given to a group\u00a0of people who not only\u00a0believed in Jesus, and talked a lot about\u00a0Him, but also lived like Him in generosity, service,\u00a0forgiveness, and love. They were “called Christians” (Acts 11:26). I believe that the title “Christian” is like the\u00a0British honorary title “Sir.” Neither are titles that can be taken; both can only be bestowed.<\/p>\n
There are great masses of people today who like Jesus and think He and His teachings are great, but who want nothing to do with those who claim to be His followers, by those who claim to be “Christians.”<\/p>\n
However, I firmly believe that if a group of people who believed in Jesus for eternal life, and committed themselves to living and loving like He commanded, a watching world would soon take notice, and declare, “Now here…Here is a group of people that could be called Christians, for here is a group who seems to take Jesus seriously and want to live like Him.”<\/p>\n
To me, that would be the greatest honor I could receive in this life. I don’t want to take the name “Christian.” But if I could be called a Christian, now that would be something! If a person who is not a follower of Jesus could look at my life over years of observation and friendship, and say “You are what I imagined followers of Jesus to be like. You are\u00a0a true Christian” I would consider my life a success.<\/p>\n
So who is calling you a Christian? Is it just you and your other “Christian” friends? Do people who are not “Christians” look at your life and\u00a0say that you just don’t look like the Jesus they read about in Scripture?\u00a0If so, my guess is that you are claiming a title you have not yet earned.<\/p>\n
Don’t call yourself a Christian until someone who is not a Christian calls you one first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I do not think I deserve to be called a Christian. Most of my believing friends would probably disagree with that statement, but\u00a0I think it is possible that some of my\u00a0friends\u00a0who do not believe in Jesus\u00a0for eternal life would probably agree with me. To some of my unbelieving friends, I\u00a0probably do not fit their\u00a0idea of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[19],"class_list":{"0":"post-347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"tag-discipleship","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n