What is a Christian?

     I know this sounds judgmental  but it needs to be said.  Donald Trump is not a Christian.  Or if he is a Christian, then clearly, I would want to call myself something different.  Why do I even take him seriously when he makes this claim?  It is because thousands upon thousands of Christians believe him.  So clearly, the term Christian has come to mean, for many people, something other than what it meant in the Gospels.

     "Christian" in the gospels was used a handful of times and in those few references, there are two words that are commonly translated "Christian."  One is synonymous with "disciple" and the other is "Nazarene." The first place it appears is in Acts 11:26, where the author calls those who were disciples of Jesus "Christians." Acts 11 mentions specifically that the disciples of Jesus were called Christians first at the church in Antioch. What did it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

     Well, the Christians at the first churches were just that, "disciples," just like the small band of original followers of Jesus when he was alive. People that left all they knew in life, and followed Jesus and his teachings come what may. Just after mentioning that the disciples were called Christians at Antioch, it goes into a story about how one of them (a member of one of these churches) heard from God in a prophecy that there was to be a great famine in the region. The disciples (members of the various first churches) decided, though they went without themselves, to send relief to the believers in Judea.  It says ,"the disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul."  So the very first mention of Christian is synonymous with disciples of Jesus, and right after the passage tells us just what kind of people they were.  They heard from God and reacted to it in love: sacrificial love.

     Where is this kind of love today?  Clearly we don't see it in Trump.  There is story after story in the New Testament about these "disciples" and what they were like.  In general, we can make some general assertions when reading the entirety of the New Testament.  They were humble people who believed they heard from God and lived it out.  They were followers of Jesus after his death and believed resurrection and ascension into heaven.  And they were willing to lay down their lives for the way of life that Jesus encouraged them to live. If you know the first thing about Jesus, you know that this is a way of life lived out of a generous and lavish love for others, even one's enemies.  This does not mean that every one of these disciples was a saint.  They were human and made mistakes, but they were, in general, on a journey into the way of love. 

     There is a concept in my churches' theology.  It is the "bounded set" verses the "centered set."  It says that a bounded set, a grouping of people with clear arbitrary borders (ie: they believe this or they act like this) is flawed.  Rather we are to look at our Journey in the Way as a centered set.  In the centered set, Jesus is at the center of our lives.  When we are on the journey, we are either moving toward him or away from him.  If we are moving away from him, we correct our path so we are always moving toward him - moving toward being like him - moving towards loving him and laying down our former selfish lives for lives lived out of love. This is what I believed Christianity was.  This is why I called myself a Christian.  But clearly, this is not a universal definition.

     If Trump is a Christian, then some Christians are apparently money hungry, power hungry, don't care if I step on the little guy, self centered, egotistical narcissists. And many people claiming to be Christians believe that he is one of them. So what am I to do?  Do I group myself in with this type of person and make it my identity?  I think not.  Now, I am not saying that all Christians are like this.  I personally know so many examples of Acts-like disciples of Jesus that proudly call themselves Christians.  But then this grouping is clearly flawed since it is an identity that encompasses two polar opposite types of people.

     What can I do with this?  Well, I chose to call myself something different.  Sure you can refer to me as a Christian, but that term is meaningless for me.  I would prefer to be called a disciple of Jesus.  Call me a believer in Jesus's divinity and a follower of Jesus. A follower of Jesus and his teachings as the target I try to hit as I go throughout my days. Call me a Jesus lover.  Call me a child of the heavenly Father.  Call me a believer.

     Do you know what it means to call yourself a child of God?  It means I know in my gut that I am loved by the creator God who made all the beauty of this existence and knows me intimately with all my faults, strengths and failures.  A son or daughter in the ancient world was always known by their father.  You could know something about them because the father passed on things to them.  He passed on ways of being, life lessons, and also what we now know is genetics.  He passed on some of his essence to his children.  And so people knew something about the children if they knew the father.  As a child of God, you admit that you have some of the essence of God in you and the essence of God is love.  

     As I go throughout my days, I ask myself, and I walking in the way of love?  I always fall short of perfect.  But it is ok not to be perfect; God already sees us as perfect... there is no need to strive for it.  I think it is safe to say that Donald Trump does not share this core belief that life is a journey into the way of love.  I realize that I am passing judgment. But sometimes, for your own sanity, you have to call a dog a dog, and not a cat.  Or you have to change your definition of a dog.