What does it mean to be a Christian?

Being a Christian (no matter which denomination) means that you are a follower of Christ, that you are His disciple and that He is your teacher. To be the disciple of someone means that you want to be like that someone. If you are a disciple of Jesus that means that you want to be like Him. You can only be like Him if you walk like Jesus walked (1John 2:6), if you experience Him and share in His joys and in His sufferings (Romans 8:17, Phil. 3:10).

Let people know that you are a Christian by the love you show to others, not by the cross around your neck or the Bible in your house or because you go to church. Jesus said "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35). This does not mean that one should not wear a cross or that one should not go to church, etc. We should keep things in perspective and do what is really important.

Read the Bible so that the Word of God is in your mind and heart. Of course it is good to have a Bible handy but remember that the people in the past did not have the Bible, they had to go to the Synagogue, to the temple to actually hear the Word of God, and there was only one Bible per temple. We live in very luxurious times, when each family has at least two Bibles. If you have a Bible, please read it and learn the Word of God.

There are two important reasons as to why Jesus had such a successful ministry. One is that He was anointed by God: “You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:37-39). If God is with us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). The other reason is that Jesus is humble enough to realize that He can only do what He sees His Father doing: “Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19). Jesus did not try to impress people by performing special miracles, He did not do anything trying to achieve a personal fame, or trying to get the approval of anybody. Everything He did, He did it according to the will of the Father. Jesus spent time alone with the Father, praying and talking to Him and therefore, Jesus was aware of what the Father wanted Him to do and He went around doing it. As a result, the Father blessed everything Jesus did.

If we are followers of Christ, shouldn’t our ministry look like His? Whatever our ministry is (to be an excellent father, or an excellent mother, a preacher, a human rights defender, a medical doctor, a psychologist, a righteous boss, a prayer warrior, among many other possibilities), we should remember to always remain humble and to maintain an excellent relationship with our Heavenly Father so that He can empower us through His Spirit to do His work here on this earth (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19).

There are no Catholics or Protestanst in the Bible, simply Christians, or followers of the Christ, the chosen one, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. You are a Christian if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and as your Lord, which means that you act according to the will of the Father and that you observe His commandments: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (Matthew 22:37-39). You are a follower of Christ (no matter the denomination) if you have recognized that Jesus died on the Cross for you, that He covered your sins –past, present and future- (Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18), that He resurrected on the third day conquering eternal life, therefore giving us access to exist in the presence of God forever (Matthew 16:21, John 11:25-26, Romans 6:9) and that He has left with us the Holy Spirit to live in us, to guide us and being our Counselor (John 14:16, 14:26, 16:13-15).

May God give you the strength, the courage and the motivation you need to be a Christian, amen.

For questions or comments, please email message@anpn.org